Konoha's Innocent Vixen
by Kibou32
Summary: AU Where the Fourth doesn't die. Previously known as "A Question of Time", didn't receive good enough reviews, so the pilot is removed. More info inside. FemNaruto Gaara. HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

Konoha's Innocent Vixen

Konoha's Innocent Vixen

By: Kibou32

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Summary: Story of a female Naruto who doesn't want to be Hokage. She's accepted by the villagers for being the Kyuubi's vessel, her father Namikaze Minato – the Yondaime Hokage is still alive after the sealing happened and is dead set against the thought his daughter would become a kunoichi despite the fact that both of the legendary sannin: Tsunade and Jiraiya, are teaching the kid everything they know in hopes of instructing a soon to be powerful shinobi weapon. Watch as Naruto deals with a negative out look from shinobi all around her – including her father's reluctance to seeing her as anything else than a ninja – to the pressure from those she's captured the hearts of to be the Godaime Hokage when all she ever wanted was just to be a regular shinobi with nothing else of importance besides the bijuu residing inside of her.

Pairings: Gaara + Naruto.

Warnings: there may be debauchery, heterosexual sex, etc.

A/N: Previously known as "A Question of Time". I'm sorry... but the first review was discouraging enough... and I got bored with the outline, so I was playing with a different version of it and ended up with this.

:-:

The meaning of no

:-:

When the Hokage says no, you obey. When the Hokage explains to you why he said no, you are to understand that what he does is for the best of the village. This, however; doesn't stop Jiraiya _or _Tsunade from taking over the care of a little baby girl. Whereas the original parent wanted his little girl to grow as normal as possible – even considering that this was ninja village and most of the kids there went to the ninja academy anyway – and not worry about being killed in a battle or whatnot, neither of the Sannin wanted that for Naruto. But Jiraiya – the super pervert of the village – had decided early on that if Naruto was left unattended, something worst might happen and there was also the risk of some idiotic shinobi from a different village taking advantage of her due to her being the Hokage's daughter stabbing her and letting the Kyuubi out of its vessel. So no… even if the Hokage said no, he and his partner – Tsunade-hime – were going to see to her studies.

They started as soon as she was at least a year old. Most of the teachings went on as games… when Tsunade taught the little kid to activate her chakra and know everything and everyone in her immediate surroundings, she inadvertently set off the Kyuubi's chakra to interact much more quicker than it should have with the kid's own chakra paths. So much that the kid even learned to summon at the fairly early age of three. Most of the elders thought it was an indirect correlation to the Kyuubi residing in the little babe that led several foxes to come over the house to 'play'. What they didn't know was that Tsunade – using her medical techniques had made a deal with the Inuzuka heir, Hana to help the kid out with training and 'domesticating' the foxes to work with her.

At the age of four, the little girl was already very proficient in talking to baby kits in their language, getting along with several other animals and smart enough when to use her cuteness to get other adults to 'help' her out. One of those helpers turned out to be Hatake Kakashi – famous Copy cat Ninja – who didn't mind teaching the little girl how to defend herself from bullies. He knew the Hokage's word to the kid being taught anything that even remotely resembled ninja arts, but he agreed with the Legendary Sannin that the girl should be ready for anything and everything that could happen to her in the future.

At the age of five, he took her to see his self-proclaimed rival Maito Gai for lessons in taijutsu and the older man – who had just recently made jounin status – accepted the apprentice with a gusto that Kakashi couldn't help but want not to see anytime soon.

Uchiha Itachi – who was the clan's prodigy and had recently been promoted to jounin status just mere weeks before Maito Gai – came over once a week to help the beautiful six year old blond how to fight against a sharingan user. He had a feeling – even if he was only thirteen – that his clan sided with the Hokage in not wanting the girl to get training in the ninja arts. So… he taught her to counter-act the use of the sharingan. As he was quite talented with his own doujutsu, he was usually seen teaching her other things that he didn't teach his own brother Sasuke who was at this time one year older than the blond girl.

In contrast to that, when Naruto came to her seventh year of age; it was the Hyuuga clan head who made a petition the Hokage into letting Naruto enter the academy. The Hokage himself knowing that relations with the Uchiha were stiff, knew that a small petition like that from the other most important clan of the village should be granted just to be on the good side should he ever need backing up in other issues.

Naruto's first academy teacher Suzume was a bit apprehensive to teach the daughter of the Hokage how to seduce a man. But she taught her anyway and found that whilst most of the other girls were more proficient in flower arrangement, cooking, etc.; the girl had their own special way of seducing the opposite sex into doing her own biding.

Example # 1: She had watched how she came over to boys of the year ahead of her to letting her play with them to whatever roughhousing they were at. Whilst this was not adequate kunoichi behavior, she had seen previous girls from their own class ask for attention and not get it at all. And the boys even acted courteous to her… Suzume decided that was enough for her to pass her over to the next year.

When she began to teach the next year with how they were supposed to do something of the same seduction techniques, she found another example in how she managed to get older males act according to whatever she wanted. Even if this was mischievous behavior on her part, Suzume decided that the girl was a kunoichi through and through despite representing a tomboy more than anything else.

Naruto at nine years old had conned the Nara heir into teaching her how to be a strategist without even knowing that he was actually doing it. Later on, Sarutobi Asuma would learn how much of a thinker the girl was even if her grades didn't reflect it. He later on decided to talk to Hatake Kakashi to get the scoop on the Hokage's daughter's real skills.

_is often overrated._


	2. Chapter 2

Konoha's Innocent Vixen

Konoha's Innocent Vixen

By: Kibou32

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Summary: Story of a female Naruto who doesn't want to be Hokage. She's accepted by the villagers for being the Kyuubi's vessel, her father Namikaze Minato – the Yondaime Hokage is still alive after the sealing happened and is dead set against the thought his daughter would become a kunoichi despite the fact that both of the legendary sannin: Tsunade and Jiraiya, are teaching the kid everything they know in hopes of instructing a soon to be powerful shinobi weapon. Watch as Naruto deals with a negative out look from shinobi all around her – including her father's reluctance to seeing her as anything else than a ninja – to the pressure from those she's captured the hearts of to be the Godaime Hokage when all she ever wanted was just to be a regular shinobi with nothing else of importance besides the bijuu residing inside of her.

Pairings: Gaara + Naruto.

Warnings: there may be debauchery, heterosexual sex, etc.

A/N: Previously known as "A Question of Time". I'm sorry... but the first review was discouraging enough... and I got bored with the outline, so I was playing with a different version of it and ended up with this.

:_-_:

_living life at its fullest… _

:-:

Sasuke was usually unimpressed with the girls surrounding him every step of the way. Even though almost all of his clan had been killed due to dealings with an S-class criminal and high treason against the Hokage, girls from the village still claimed that he was truly a catch. Why was it that they were fans of him and not of his brother?! He didn't understand how Itachi was not pursued by the women of the village whereas he was!! It just wasn't fair!

Even so… there were at least two girls in his whole class who didn't even pay attention to him. One of those was the Hokage's daughter. He had been jealous of the attention his brother paid the girl when he realized that she was just a regular girl – if there was anything to go by her grades. The other, the Hyuuga heir; didn't seem to be much of a catch, but even so… she was much better than the other girls who accosted him during the day.

Even though Sasuke knew that his brother was a busy ninja, he still didn't understand why he had given so much of his time to the Hokage's daughter instead of spending it with him?! Either way… he didn't see what was so special about a girl like her. He shrugged. It didn't matter any how as he was about to graduate and as far as he could tell, the girl wasn't even that great a kunoichi.

:-:

The final exam was always conducted like a trial. Mizuki-sensei took care of the physical part whereas Iruka-sensei took care of the ninja techniques. And as always… the students were asked to perform one simple bunshin to pass. It was a great surprise to him that while Mizuki-sensei drove every student like a slave-driver, except the Uchiha brat who always pushed himself to the highest form on his own; he praised and loved to lavish attention on the Hokage's daughter's meager accomplishments… he decided it would be better if he conducted a private exam without his presence for Uzumaki Naruto to prevent favoritism. It came as a bigger shock when he realized she had been holding back because she was taught humility.

She created not one bunshin, but she did filled the entire room with kage-bunshin. A simple replica of herself would have been enough, but instead by showing several kage-bunshin… a technique that required much more chakra than any girl her age would have had in her, she did it to prove that she could do it. He was convinced that there was more than met the eye when she requested that her hitae-ate be given to her the next morning. When Sarutobi Asuma asked her why, she explained that she thought that the lavished praise Mizuki-sensei gave her was skewed. She said she had been following him for a couple of months now and had discovered his plans for running away with the secret scroll that had Nidaime's techniques. So far, he a mere chunnin had been unable to get it without being discovered. She said she thought he'd use the fact that Umino Iruka would not let her advance if she was unable to produce an effective bunshin – to which she had prepared to give a faulty one – and that he'd approach her with the incentive that if she took the scroll out, that he'd get Iruka to let her advance.

Well… Iruka was astonished. He didn't know what to think. At first, he refused to believe that Mizuki would be that selfish and that much of a traitor to Konoha. But Suzume said that Naruto's story confirmed her suspicions of Mizuki's weird behavior… to say the least. Iruka took a step back and thought about it for a minute. It seemed plausible… the seeming dead last against a teacher's word. He agreed.

:-:

Kakashi's thoughts on the matter when confronted by his ex-sensei and the Academy Teachers were purely of pride for the fact that he had also taught Naruto into looking underneath the underneath. His one-eye smile was enough of an evidence that he had gone behind the Hokage's back and assisted the two sannins in teaching Naruto since age three. The elders when confronted said that Naruto had been delayed in being given her genin status due to his own doing. She had been ready to do missions at least by her ninth or tenth year of age. Namikaze Minato was angry. And then there was a miniscule feeling of pride. For what made Naruto a great kunoichi wasn't her large amount of chakra due to the Kyuubi, but her being smart as well as not being a brat. So he took revenge on Kakashi… he decided to place the number one rookie of this year's genin batch Uchiha Sasuke with his number one fangirl Haruno Sakura and at last placed Naruto in for good measure, sure that the combination was enough to make Kakashi go mad.

And if that didn't work… well… a couple of D-level missions would do the trick.

:-:

He was told to take the job of Jounin sensei on Team 7. The three genins being Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto. A too cool brat that got on Kakashi's nerves, a fangirl and the supposed to be dead last was an accident waiting to happen. Even so… when he went on to meet them at least three hours later than the other jounin senseis did, he was expecting a prank of some sort. Naruto usually did those when she was deeply bored. It didn't happen. Instead, she had settled up on one of the desks and gone to sleep. He didn't have the heart to wake her up. Unfortunately, her new teammate did.

"HEY!" – he heard her screech.

It was no wonder that she was attacked by a kunai who narrowly missed cutting her throat.

He watched the pink-haired idiot gulp.

"You should learn never to scream like that. People would think they're being hunted or something." – Naruto said as she spread her arms as if she was just taking doing some regular stretches instead of just having had a small nap.

She looked over at him and smiled a big happy one. He felt his heart melt. In that sense, he watched from the corner of his eye how both the other two twitched in either disgust or annoyance, he couldn't tell but he decided that this was something worth seeing. He could decide later on whether or not to fail them.

"Well then… now that we're here, let's introduce ourselves."

"In what way sensei?" – came the response from pink. He had decided to call them by the color of their hair. Pink was Sakura, Blond was Naruto and Black was Sasuke.

"Well… I suppose you want a model of how to do it… ok. I'm Hatake Kakashi, your jounin sensei. I have a lot of likes and not many dislikes. My hopes and dreams… well I really don't have to tell you lot what they are." – and then he finalized this with a one-eye smile.

He then turned to Pink and signaled her to start.

"Ah… ok. My name is Haruno Sakura. I like…" – she turned to see Black and gave him an adoring smile. Black ignored Pink completely. "My hopes and dreams…" – he once again turned to bequeath another adoring look at the Uchiha brat and Kakashi tried to stop himself from rolling his eye. "I dislike Uzumaki Naruto." – she said with absolute certainty.

Said person didn't even bat an eyelash at the hate pouring off Sakura's being.

"And you?" – he said looking over to the blond knowing she was really bored.

"Ah… well I'm known as Uzumaki Naruto, but in reality my last name is Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto." – there was a gasp coming from Sakura now. Not many at the Academy knew that she was the Hokage's daughter. "I like ramen and I dislike self-centered people." – she stated quietly but did not expound on what her dreams could be. Kakashi was sad to learn this. It was not that she could have not said anything and still had them, but Kakashi knew that her world consisted mainly of learning techniques, both ninja and genjutsu. As well as the medical techniques that the Legendary Medical Ninja Tsunade taught her on a daily basis. What was there to dream about… he wondered.

He shook his head and moved his head towards the only boy in the team.

"And you?" – he asked.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't have many likes, I dislike fangirls" – here he made a face of disgust at Sakura who wilted when he did so and went on "and my dream is to become an ANBU like my brother Itachi."

Kakashi satisfied that at least one of his students could be counted as driven… although not by much, decided to tell them about the genin test. He was gleeful when he saw that two of his students were dismayed when he said that there was a test they had to pass before they'd be considered genins. His happiness didn't abate when he saw that his sensei's daughter didn't seem that concerned about the upcoming test.

"This test has a 66.66 of failing rate. So… I'll see you guys tomorrow at the bridge that conducts to the training grounds at Area 45. Don't eat breakfast or you'll be sorry. Ja ne!" – and then he disappeared into a puff of smoke.

Silence permeated the place where they sat. Sakura wondered if maybe she couldn't cram a last tidbit for tomorrow. Sasuke felt nervous but confident he could pass whatever the test was about. This was just a mild stone in his road to continuing. And Naruto just wondered if she would remember to make it on time, Kakashi hadn't said that she should interrupt her usual schedule for the exam, right?

:-:

Since she usually had a training regime in the mornings ranging from Monday thru Saturday from 6am to 8am with Hyuuga Hinata which involved Monday, Wednesday and Friday, taijutsu practice and Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday practicing ninjutusu and genjutsu. And the occasional 8am to 10am practice with the Legendary Medic Ninja Tsunade three day in a row, whichever her teacher decided to tell her to do… meant that in the end she arrived at least 1 hour late to the meeting place. She was going to go to the bridge via the transportation jutsu, but due to her teacher's bad mood; she decided to just due the usual running than just using it.

Her teammates looked to be in deep despair when she arrived looking not like she had just been rushing from the hospital to the bridge in less than ten minutes. It was apparent that Kakashi wasn't around the vicinity. She quietly summoned one of her usual kits to scent him out and was reported that there was no hair or tail from the elusive jounin. She frowned.

"You're late!" – she heard her teammate Sakura say and she dismissed her with a regular sniff.

"I'm only one hour late." – she said forgetting that those two were probably still pretty new to Kakashi's tardiness.

"It's 10 am! We were supposed to be here at 7am! What do you mean only one hour?!" – she heard Sakura squeal at her and she tried to summon some patience. This was the only reason she never went anywhere close to her and all the other Uchiha fangirls. They were too loud for her sensitive hearing – something that was attributed to training and her unusual tenant.

"Oh please. For as late as Kakashi was yesterday don't tell me you didn't notice that that wasn't a coincidence? So you didn't… hmm." – she said when she noticed that they looked a bit incredulous at not having thought that before arriving here so early.

"So you know Kakashi-sensei from before?" – Sasuke deign himself to ask.

"Un! He usually comes over every now and then to check up on me. Come to think of it… he's been kinda like a permanent fixture at home. I think I even remember that he used to even bathe me when I was younger…" – she said not at all feeling embarrassed that she had just admitted to being washed and coddled by someone else.

But she paid no heed to the fact that giving that information to her teammates could have been used against her at one point or the other. On the other hand, Sasuke began to feel a bit flushed at the idea that a jounin like his sensei was so chummy with one of his students.

"YO!" – Kakashi decided to arrive at that point and effectively killed any sort of questioning that the others might have initiated towards Naruto.

_Is just something you just gotta do._


	3. Chapter 3

Konoha's Innocent Vixen

Konoha's Innocent Vixen

By: Kibou32

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Summary: Story of a female Naruto who doesn't want to be Hokage. She's accepted by the villagers for being the Kyuubi's vessel, her father Namikaze Minato – the Yondaime Hokage is still alive after the sealing happened and is dead set against the thought his daughter would become a kunoichi despite the fact that both of the legendary sannin: Tsunade and Jiraiya, are teaching the kid everything they know in hopes of instructing a soon to be powerful shinobi weapon. Watch as Naruto deals with a negative out look from shinobi all around her – including her father's reluctance to seeing her as anything else than a ninja – to the pressure from those she's captured the hearts of to be the Godaime Hokage when all she ever wanted was just to be a regular shinobi with nothing else of importance besides the bijuu residing inside of her.

Pairings: Gaara + Naruto.

Warnings: there may be debauchery, heterosexual sex, etc.

A/N: Previously known as "A Question of Time". I'm sorry... but the first review was discouraging enough... and I got bored with the outline, so I was playing with a different version of it and ended up with this.

:-:

_first impressions are always the best_

:-:

Sakura's first impression on Naruto was that she was worst than the other girls in school and that she felt sorry for Hinata for being stuck with a girl who would not be able to become a kunoichi due to her lack of prowess. Since the test had begun, she had had begun to reevaluate her first impressions on her teammates. So far, Kakashi hadn't said a word that indicated that Naruto wouldn't pass the test with flying colors. So far, he had said that Sasuke clearly didn't know any better because he was too busy thinking he was too good for this team.

So far… there were only thirty minutes left for lunch and neither Sasuke or her had been able to get the bells.

"Sakura." – she turned to see her teacher there and was surprised to see Sasuke broken and filled with needles.

She screamed.

:-:

It seemed that the only one that had not made a move was Naruto. Sasuke had engaged in a taijutsu fight with him and lost. Sakura had fallen underneath his genjutsu. What to do… oh the possibilities… he giggled and decided to check his book out. He decided that since Naruto wasn't interested in meeting with him to fight, then he'd wait the last attempt out.

:-:

"Oi." – she said softly as she poked Sasuke in the head from where she had him dug out from the hole he had made when Kakashi used a Doton jutsu to leave him underground.

"Stop poking me." – he hissed at her when he finally decided to open his eyes.

"If you had awaken when I dug you out, I wouldn't have poked you."

She settled next to him and produced a nutrient bar out of her outer pocket. She held it out to him. Sasuke looked back at her and she extended the nutrient bar just barely out of his reach.

"What do you want?" – he queried when he finally made an attempt to grab it and was denied.

"Nothing so foul. Just a chance to pass this test… I have an idea." – she said and then finally relinquished the nutrient bar to him.

He ate the bar quietly, but did not choose to comment on what he thought was probably a weird idea.

"So?" – he asked knowing they were at least twenty minutes away from failing the test.

"So… what do you say we work together? Think about it… Kakashi never said we couldn't work together." – she said while she rummaged through her kunai holster.

He thought about it and then his eyes glowed with knowledge, but then dimmed.

"We only have twenty minutes before lunch. How do you propose we get those bells? We can't even ask Sakura… I'm not even sure where she is."

"Oh… well… while Kakashi was telling us about the test, I rigged the whole training grounds with traps. So far he hasn't been made aware of them because they only activate if I issue the command to do so. I made sure to think up a plan in case the test involved teamwork."

"Ok… so what do you want me to do? Do we get Sakura?" – he asked just including Sakura for the sake of it.

"Sakura is still trapped in a genjutsu. We'd waste precious time if we go get her. What I was thinking of…"

Sasuke grinned as she whispered her plan into his ear.

:-:

Kakashi realized that in five more minutes the test would stop and he'd have to fail those three. Well… more like fail Sasuke and Sakura. Send Sasuke back to the Academy and tell Sakura she wasn't shinobi material. He stood up and dusted his pants as he made his way out of the forest to get the clock. He had such high hopes for this group despite their individual faults.

Before he made it to the clearing where the posts, the lunches and the clock stood he tripped. He thought it strange that he had tripped… he never did so. He tried to stand up when he noticed something was wrong. He saw two grinning genin and one sheepish kunoichi… Sakura? Was she out of the genjutsu already?

"Got ya." – Naruto said grinning happily.

Kakashi realized that he had been under a genjutsu for a while. For at least an hour if he was correct. The little minx had let him think he had had Sakura under a genjutsu and that the Uchiha brat was still where he had left him and used teamwork against him.

He stood up and used an eye-smile towards them.

He signaled that since they had gotten the bells… and he was sure that Sakura was the 'it', he gave the bento to Naruto and Sasuke while Sakura watched forlorn.

:-:

"So how did you do it? Didn't you say that you weren't going to wake Sakura up from the genjutsu?" – Sakura heard Sasuke ask and she nearly bawled over. Their teacher had said he was going to get something and he'd be right back. She was sure that when he came back, he would tell her she was going back to the academy due to her poor attitude during the test.

"Well… I had to make Kakashi think that Sakura was in on the game. I just made a bunshin and sent it to wake her up. Which… when he thinks about it fully, he'll realize that the only genjutsu I used was to keep him from knowing where we were while I activated the traps needed to bring Kakashi down. We're probably going to be doing a lot of training from now on."

"So you used a genjutsu to give us a bit of time to gain my trust and get me to work with you? Is that it?" – Sasuke said feeling a bit amazed that his new teammate wasn't as much of a letdown as he had thought as at first.

He watched how she turned the non-eaten bento box and thrust it towards the pink haired girl. He was nonplussed about this.

"Why are you giving me your lunch away? You won it fair and square." – Sakura sniffled out.

"Sure. I won it fair and square… but the deal was to work together. I think you need the food more than I need it. You probably heeded his advice and didn't eat breakfast. I had something to do in the morning and I couldn't just not go without it." – she watched Sakura look at her weirdly and then just grab it with a wan smile as a thank you. "Had I known what Kakashi was going to test us out in the first place – although I had an inkling as to what it was – and I had been able to come in earlier than when I got here, I would've thought out a plan for the three of us to use. The point of the test wasn't to get the bells… it was to work as a team. I didn't think we'd get the bells, but I guess he wasn't really expecting us to work together."

"So… what you're saying is that the purpose of the whole thing was to see if we could get to work together? Even if we didn't get the bells, he'd have passed us if we had just made an attempt to work together?" – Sasuke said as he looked down at his own half-eaten bento box.

"Yup! Even if he now said not to give any to Sakura – which he oddly didn't – sharing a bit of our lunch with her wouldn't have been so bad. Teammates have to look out for each other."

Sasuke then took his chopsticks and offered her the other half of the bento box and Kakashi almost wept. It was so cute! But he still had to make an appearance.

"YOU GUYS!!" – He yelled out a bit cross that Naruto didn't seem a bit intimidated with his act.

Sakura and Sasuke yelped and were about to cry… or at least it seemed like that to him. So what if he was glorifying the petrified looks of his students a bit too much? He still got what he wanted. Camaraderie, a touch of friendship and teamwork!! He supposed he would have to take the little minx out for ramen in thanks for pushing the point across.

"PASS!" – he said in the end and watched happily as the other two crashed on the ground relieved.

:-:

Naruto was right when she had said that after lunch, their sensei would work their asses off. Even Sasuke was tired by the time their sensei told them he'd take them out for ramen. His treat. Naruto was all smiles until she saw Ebisu. And then she frowned and said she'd take a raincheck on the invite.

Sasuke was amazed when the jounin with dark sunglasses on his face and his blond haired teammate disappeared in a puff of smoke. He then decided that he was exhausted enough that he didn't really need ramen. He told his sensei he was fine and left for his home at the Uchiha compound. Old ghosts and all that didn't mean squat to him. With Sakura only left, Kakashi expected her to come with, but was surprised when she said that she had to be home before her parents worried even more. He sighed.

:-:

Before he arrived home, he was stopped by a white long haired individual he recognized as the Legendary Toad Hermit. He wondered what it was that the man wanted with him.

"Did she work it out?" – he heard him ask.

"Yeah. She instigated teamwork with Uchiha Sasuke and led me to believe she even had Sakura in on the game. She was good." – he said with a wry smile.

"I see. Tsunade has her working with her three days consecutively which is why she was later than usual." – he heard Jiraiya say.

"Was it her who taught Naruto how to use paralyzing poisons?" – he asked.

"Yeah. Naruto is a prime shinobi machine. Except… our dear Hokage is unwilling to use her like that. In fact… you can be sure that you'll be doing more than your fair share of D-level missions from now on."

Kakashi waved it away unconcerned.

"I'm sure sensei hoped they wouldn't make it, right? I'm not particularly worried about that. While Naruto is ready to tackle higher than C-level missions on her own, Sasuke and Sakura aren't that much ready. So… a couple of those D-level missions is fine with me. That will be enough to solidify their teamwork so when a C-level mission comes about, Yondaime-sama will see he was wrong about Naruto." – he said with certainty.

"When you're not training or doing missions, I'll be in charge of Naruto." – was all the old man said and then vanished.

Kakashi sighed softly.

_But second impressions are much more truer than the first ones._


	4. Chapter 4

Konoha's Innocent Vixen

Konoha's Innocent Vixen

By: Kibou32

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Summary: Story of a female Naruto who doesn't want to be Hokage. She's accepted by the villagers for being the Kyuubi's vessel, her father Namikaze Minato – the Yondaime Hokage is still alive after the sealing happened and is dead set against the thought his daughter would become a kunoichi despite the fact that both of the legendary sannin: Tsunade and Jiraiya, are teaching the kid everything they know in hopes of instructing a soon to be powerful shinobi weapon. Watch as Naruto deals with a negative out look from shinobi all around her – including her father's reluctance to seeing her as anything else than a ninja – to the pressure from those she's captured the hearts of to be the Godaime Hokage when all she ever wanted was just to be a regular shinobi with nothing else of importance besides the bijuu residing inside of her.

Pairings: Gaara + Naruto.

Warnings: there may be debauchery, heterosexual sex, etc.

A/N: Previously known as "A Question of Time". I'm sorry... but the first review was discouraging enough... and I got bored with the outline, so I was playing with a different version of it and ended up with this.

:-:

A man's best friend

:-:

"Now why do we even have to _work _at the Hospital Again?!" – screeched Pinky to Kakashi and he sighed.

It wasn't like they had a choice, but he really wasn't going to mention this to her. He might as well say that due to Naruto, they'd be working in the hospital at least 3 times a week – when not outside of the village doing some other mission – for as long as they would be delivered D-level missions. And of the two choices he had, it was either working them off with training or performing another D-level mission which Naruto wouldn't be privy to since the Slug Sannin had laid down her law… Naruto was to perform several B-level activities at the Hospital three times a week. Rather than separating Team Seven more than usual, he took them to the Hospital to do D-level chores that involved moping, washing dishes, changing beds, washing the linens, etc. Today, Naruto had been sent to ICU to work on some sort of medical shit he knew nothing about and he was left to take Sasuke and Sakura to work at the hospital.

With the exception of today, his two remaining students usually worked together in their usual four hour D-level mission, but today a nurse had taken Sakura away to work with her seeing as her apprentices weren't around due to some sort of other events that he wasn't privy to and Sasuke was left with him to work in the kitchen to wash dishes.

"Kakashi!" – a voice he dreaded came about and he swore.

"Sensei? Who is that woman coming towards us with such glee?" – he heard Sasuke ask him and he wondered if maybe grabbing Sasuke and running out of the kitchen would work.

He got embraced from behind and he grunted at the force of the embrace.

"Oh wow! I didn't know you had a team already!" – said the black haired Kunoichi with dark brown eyes.

Kakashi just shook his head and said: "What brings you to the kitchen Anko?"

"One of my teammates decided to play hero on our mission and here we are… and who is this young man… ah the next Uchiha prodigy." – she said while she grasped Sasuke's cheeks and began to torture him.

Kakashi sighed. He was just about to tell her to butt out, but was stopped as much as Anko was with the sight of a henge.

"Oh my Naru-chan! You really do know how to work it for me!" – he heard Anko yell at her and he felt his one eye bug out.

There stood a kage bunshin in the shape of a big breasted blond girl wearing virtually nothing underneath the pink smoke that protected her assets from being completely shown in public.

He – uncharacteristically as it was of him – blushed. He found that Sasuke was also gawking at Naruto's kage bunshin and a blush had formed in his cheeks. Plus it seemed as if one move from the blond haired nymph would bring Sasuke – _and _him if he dared to admit it out loud – unconscious due to heavy duty hemorrhage from the nose.

"Really Anko-san! You shouldn't escape the room just because Tsunade-baachan said you needed stitches too!" – came a voice behind the kage bunshin and Sasuke did fall then at the sight of a rather cute blond genin's getup.

He himself didn't fall, but this was only due to the fact that he had been privy to this look once before. There stood Naruto in a nurse's white uniform that fit her prim and athletic body to the tee. Too bad Naruto hadn't developed that far around her bust area, yet. Unlike her clone which had a bust that he'd kill to put his hands on… in another woman of course. He considered his student to be just that. And of course he treasured his manhood, for if the Hokage heard he was trying to bed his twelve year old daughter, he would cut his dick off before feeding him off to Ibiki for interrogation torture.

"Ah… but you know I prefer you over all the men and women in this world Naru-chan! I will only let you be my attendee instead of Tsunade-sama!" – Anko exclaimed.

Naruto deadpanned: "That's a ridiculous thought. Now don't go hugging my kage bunshin too tightly while I do the stitches or you'll make it banish before I finish." – she said as she began to unload the things she had been carrying in one hand on one of the kitchen's empty tables.

"Hai Naru-chan!" – Anko cried out happily. While she let the younger kunoichi work, Kakashi watched on incredulous that he was being ignored. That is until another blond kage bunshin began to poke him to get his attention and then he noticed that Sasuke's blood was still flowing out of his nose. He resolved to think of this at a later date, though.

:-:

When Sasuke woke up, he was with Kakashi in one of the stalls on the Emergency Room.

"So… care to explain what that was about?" – he heard his sensei ask to another blur that Sasuke thought might've been his teammate Naruto.

"The technique or Anko behaving like that?" – she said whilst doing some sort of task Sasuke wasn't sure what it was due to his failing sight.

"Either, both. I've known Anko some time now… but I've never seen her act like an eager puppy awaiting its master to come home… why does she seem to prefer your… what is that technique anyway?" – he asked when he was unable to say something else.

"It's called the 'Oiroke no jutsu' and I used it whenever I have to deal with Ero-sensei or Anko. Sometimes even when I'm trying to delude some cultuist off of me." – she said as she listed the above as if it were an everyday occurrence.

"Where on earth did you get the idea to do so?!" – he said bewildered.

"Ero-sensei's books!" – she said.

And then proceeded to do something neither Kakashi or Sasuke were expecting. She began to tickled Sasuke on his hip. It was the funny reaction that she got off of him that made Sasuke realize she had been aware of him being awake at all times.

"Yam—mete… yamero!" – Sasuke continued on chuckling and laughing as he hadn't so for years since his parents' deaths.

"You know it's not nice to listen in on adult conversations, Uchiha!" – she teased and then she slipped her finger a little and produced a once in a lifetime reaction. Sasuke shuddered whilst trying to catch his breath and he knew that she had hit the spot. _His_ very sensitive spot! The spot that induced him a hard on!

Kakashi cleared his throat and before Naruto could say anything or do anything else… Sakura burst into the emergency room looking a little worse for wear, looking like she might kill her teammate for touching her precious Sasuke-kun. Kakashi rolled his eyes and prayed something would come up soon before Naruto killed Sakura in defense.

:-:

"Honestly! Hatake-san… I'm going to have to ask you to keep your other two subordinates away from the hospital." – he heard the Slug Sannin say in an annoyed voice.

"Does this mean that my other subordinate is banned from the hospital too?" – he said seriously.

"Naruto isn't your subordinate. It is true that she's a genin. But at the hospital she's at least chunnin level. I cannot have her frolicking around, shirking her duties while I need her fully focused on her job!" – she growled back at him and Kakashi was suddenly afraid for his manhood.

"At the hospital she's a genin as well. Until the Hokage accepts her superb credits as you put it, she's still my subordinate." – he said stoically all the while sweating underneath his skin.

"Oh… so that's what it is. You won't accept she's under my command at the hospital until you've seen Hokage approved credentials! Very well… you'll have those no later than the next time she has to come here." – and then she marched away from him leaving him to exhale the holdup breath he had in his lungs. He had feared that she'd loose her temper and punch him a new one.

He sagged and tried to keep himself in check. But before he turned around and decided to throw Sakura into a 3 day training spree of hell, he was stopped by Jiraiya himself.

"I'm surprised you're still alive Kakashi." – he said seriously.

Kakashi turned to face him completely not knowing that Naruto had come into the Hospital's inner park to speak to him herself.

"So am I. I thought she'd push a hole into my skull for insubordination." – he said quietly.

"We are legends around here, but that doesn't mean we're anywhere above you in rank. True that we hold seniority over the Hokage himself, but all shinobi fall underneath one rule… and that is the Hokage. No one else." – he said as he uncrossed his arms and stretched.

"Then why did you teach Naruto? If you're supposed to obey the Hokage's rule above else… then why did you train Naruto from such a young age?!" – Kakashi asked incredulous that those words had come out of his sensei's sensei's mouth.

"That's laying it on thick Kakashi. I do remember you too taught her techniques as well as took her to see your fated rival Maito Gai, if I remember correctly. And in this… we had the approval of the council. Now, Minato may have not wanted his daughter to become a tool for Konoha due to the Kyuubi; but… - and here it is where you have to look underneath the underneath – Naruto needed to be taught. She needed to be able to find a way to defend herself. Putting ANBU guards outside her bedroom window and whatnot wouldn't have worked for higher S-class jounin from other villages. Naruto needs to find her own path. She is her own person and Minato has forgotten that." – he said with his eyes serious and his mouth pressed into a thin line.

Kakashi sagged. He knew this was the truth in its hardcore, but to make a little soldier like her… a perfect little soldier… this might be too much for her and the village. He had been getting to know her so much better and gotten a bit frightened that she had no dream of her own. He wanted the cheery girl that he had played with when she was five. He wanted the ever so expectant girl who had been so happy to show him how much she had learned under Gai's supervision. He wanted her to be happy. He had agreed before with the sannins's about the method and the end result… but now… now he wasn't sure this was what he had wanted in the end.

"We both – Tsunade and I – care too much for that girl. We have been more or less parental figurines to her rather than her own flesh and blood. Don't come to me about not caring. This is our way. It was taught to us to become strong enough, that is our way." – he said and then he nodded once at him as farewell before disappearing into thin air.

Kakashi was left bereft of feelings. He didn't know what to think anymore. He turned around and was once again shocked into stupor at finding Naruto standing there looking blank. He wanted to apologize, but he couldn't find the right words to say so he stood there quietly awaiting her mood.

She didn't say anything at first making him highly uncomfortable. But then she raised her blue eyes to him and said…

"Kakashi-sensei. I would advise you not to fight with Tsunade-no-baachan. She's not one to take too lightly if one wants to survive to see the next day. Furthermore… it was you who told me once that I had to find a way to balance my shinobi duties and my own life on a scale. Well… my life depends on my shinobi skills. But to get those skills I have to perform duties as payment for the teaching I'm getting… this way I owe no one my existence. Please understand that your concerns are noted and much appreciated, but the only way you'd help me is by helping me help myself." – and then she nodded in farewell towards him the same way Jiraiya had done so and left in a burst of flames.

_Isn't always a dog. _


	5. Chapter 5

Konoha's Innocent Vixen

Konoha's Innocent Vixen

By: Kibou32

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Summary: Story of a female Naruto who doesn't want to be Hokage. She's accepted – somewhat – by the villagers for being the Kyuubi's vessel, her father Namikaze Minato – the Yondaime Hokage is still alive after the sealing happened and is dead set against the thought his daughter would become a kunoichi despite the fact that both of the legendary sannin: Tsunade and Jiraiya, are teaching the kid everything they know in hopes of instructing a soon to be powerful shinobi weapon. Watch as Naruto deals with a negative out look from shinobi all around her – including her father's reluctance to seeing her as anything else than a ninja – to the pressure from those she's captured the hearts of to be the Godaime Hokage when all she ever wanted was just to be a regular shinobi with nothing else of importance besides the bijuu residing inside of her.

Pairings: Gaara + Naruto.

Warnings: there may be debauchery, heterosexual sex, etc.

A/N: Lots of people are wondering when Gaara is going to come about and I'd hate to say this, but he isn't going to come about for another two chapters – at least – because I'm following the anime timeline. Somewhat at least. Be assured that when you do see him, you'll see some sparks fly between our two favorite characters. But, I'm also sad to say that the real romance parts aren't going to come for quite a long time, so bear with me.

:-:

Life is a dream

:-:

Sasuke could tell the difference after three days of leisure. Due to her rash anger at the hospital, Sakura had been severely punished by the Slug Sannin herself for breaking a few expensive equipment that was at the emergency room. So now… aside from having to pay for the damages due to the fight she had commenced with Naruto in the emergency room from her own meager shinobi salary, she was also being trained into the ground by Kakashi every single day. On her first day, she had not managed to last before lunch. On her second day, she had complained a lot of injuries but due to the fact that she was revoked her entrance to the hospital until she paid for the damages, Kakashi had her do a more gruesome job.

Now on their fourth day together, Sakura was subdued. He hadn't seen Naruto either… but their sensei had told them she was fine. This had garnered a depressed look from Sakura but elation from himself.

And now that it was Friday, he wondered what on earth would he have to go through today due to Sakura's punishment.

"Hi!" – another annoying fangirl. Tch! Sasuke wished he had an 'oiroke-no-jutsu' or something like that to deploy their feelings for him. Perhaps he should ask his teammate to teach him that particular jutsu. It may come in handy someday.

He tried to ignore Yamanaka Ino but her blond hair reminded him of his teammate. He watched from the corner of his eye at how Ino went over to Sakura and instigated their usual verbal sparring expecting the latter to act as she always did. It didn't happen. He was as shocked as the blond, but he dared not show it for fear of the consequences.

"Hi." – came the quiet salute from his real blond teammate and he was surprised to see her wearing something other than a training gi.

"…" – he said nothing whilst looking at her attire.

A formal kimono? What on earth?! Was this a genjutsu?! He tried to dispel but nothing happened.

"Uzumaki!" – Ino screeched whilst gesticulating towards her attire.

"I have been approached by the Hokage himself with the petition for a mission. But I'm only allowed to take one of my teammates." – she said completely bypassing Ino's attempts at conversation.

"So? What is it about?" – he said curious now what would he have to do.

"The Fire Lord's youngest daughter is having her twelfth birthday today. As the Hokage cannot go, he's sending me as his daughter to represent him in the festivities. Kakashi-sensei cannot accompany me, so I said you would be okay for the job."

Sasuke frowned inwardly but outwardly he only sighed in resignation and said he'd do it. Then he watched her turn away from him and say…

"I'll be awaiting you at the gates in an hour. Bring formal wear for a dinner party, and sleeping clothes in case we have to stay the night over."

And then she disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Sasuke was a bit disconcerted at the situation but shrugged and ran off in the direction to his house.

:-:

As luck would have it, his brother was there eating brunch – it seemed like – at their kitchen table.

"Sasuke?" – he queried whilst he watched his otouto run around the house and into his own room to get the necessary things for his mission.

He walked over as he saw – a bit incredulous although he didn't show it in his face – his dear little brother pack two formal kimonos with their own hakamas. He then surmised this was what the Hokage was mumbling about the night before. He sighed in response but shrugged knowing his otouto would deal whatever came their way on the mission.

He lost interest in what his brother was doing after that and when he finally got up to see if his otouto was still sticking around, he found to his amazement that he wasn't anywhere around.

He shrugged and decided to lounge in his room with a good book. It was unusual for him to have an afternoon off from duty.

:-:

As luck would have it, once the weekend was over and Naruto and Sasuke were back to Konoha, Sakura decided that enough was enough and asked Naruto for a minute to talk.

In short, she had had a long time to think of things and she had reached the conclusion that she was in the wrong. She would heed her mother's advice and talk to Naruto again.

Finding a time to talk, however; proved to be an ordeal it and of itself. So when Naruto began to edge away to go home, Sakura jumped on the opportunity and ran up to catch her.

"Naruto!" – she yelled wanting her teammate to stop.

She stops and turns around looking confused.

"Yes?" – she asked and waited for Sakura to say her piece.

"I'm sorry! I was wrong and I want to become your friend…" – she was stopped by a hand stretched out in front of her in the universal sign of 'stop'.

"Don't ruin it okay. You've been doing okay for the last couple of days since the incident and I don't begrudge you what happened then. As long as you realize you were wrong and try to fix things by working on your kunoichi skills… well I'm fine too."

Sigh. "Then… how about we get together sometime soon to hang out? I'd like us to be friends. Even if you do or don't like Sasuke-kun, there's no reason we can't be friends." – Sakura pointed out helpfully.

Naruto looked to be thinking about it and then said: "Well… I'm sorry to say I have almost to no free time at the moment. I train every single day from dawn to dusk. However… if you want to be my friend you have to show me you're sincere in wanting to do so. And about Sasuke… I don't like him like that. He's a teammate if he's to be anything to me, but that's it. I think boys are gross." – she said whilst grinning softly at Sakura.

"So what do I have to do to show you I'm sincere in my request to be friends?" – Sakura asked suddenly worried it was money she obviously didn't have.

"Well… you have to do two things for me, actually three; but the last one we'll only get to it later. One, reform your friendship with Ino. Loosing a friend for a love interest that might or might not work out in the end is something I won't tolerate. Besides… just because you're trying to get into my good graces due to your debt, doesn't mean I'm oblivious to your tactic. If you mean what you say and aren't going to betray me further down the road, I have to see if I can trust you. To do so, requires a previous example of a good friendship. So make amends with Ino. If I see that you guys are good friends and don't fall into the rivalry again, I'll consider your request of friendship."

Sakura was dismayed to find the level of trust that Naruto held in her. Which was zilch! And she was also surprised to see that she was being thorough in explaining what she wanted of her.

"And the second one?" – she asked a little fearful of what else she was about to ask of her. Wondering if it was worth it in the end.

"Well… it has a preemptive condition that you have to follow even if you suddenly decide not to be friends with me in the end. Do you agree to it?"

"What is it?" – Sakura asked shyly.

"Keep on training."

"That's all?" – she said wondering if that was all she had to do in the end.

"Sure. That's the preemptive condition, but the second thing I want you to do is a two side coin, on the one side you have to apologize to Tsunade-no-baachan for your previous behavior and when you do that, we'll spar. If you manage to beat me or at least put your damn best to do so, I'll reconsider my previous impression on you and accept the possibility of us becoming friends. However, if you don't apologize to Tsunade-no-baachan in the following week, the second thing to do is void."

Sakura grimaced once she realized that Naruto had thought it all. Retribution at its best. She nodded in reply and watched discouraged and depressed as Naruto walked away leaving her behind.

:-:

Sure enough, getting to apologize to the top medic nin of all times was hard since the woman was always more often than not at the hospital, at the local bars drinking or at the gaming houses outside Konoha. The last two places were big no-nos for her to be even late at night. She had been punished with a curfew by her mother and she knew it was going to be extremely hard to do this apologize situation. Time to get creative.

Whenever training time with Kakashi-sensei was over an hour earlier than usual, Sakura would rush to the front steps leading to the hospital building and hope that she'd have been extremely fast in getting there to – the training grounds were on the other side of where the Hospital laid – catch the Sannin after her lunch break. No such luck. She was starting to think she'd have to ask someone else's help.

It turned out that after going to Ino's house and relaying she wanted to be friends again, Ino would just grin at her and say it was alright. Getting back into Ino's good graces was far more easier than getting to Naruto's sensibility side.

"Well… I guess I could help you out, but why do you want to be friends with Naruto?" – Ino asked curious.

"She's my teammate. As opposed to you who doesn't have another girl in her team to counteract any weird suggestion your sensei might make… my point is that girls gotta stick together. If I become stronger, I can prove I'm a better person and maybe Sasuke-kun might like me well enough to be friends – hopefully! – and if I have an ally, well it's even better. The best of it all is that if we become friends, well it's even better for me. I don't have to actually gain a friendship for political reasons and I've decided that Naruto isn't much of a nuisance as I once thought she was."

"Basically, you feel inadequate and what to make things better so you don't feel guilty for being such a jerk to Naruto at the academy, right?" – Ino said with an amused smile on her lips.

"Yeah." – Sakura agreed as she slumped in her seat.

"Well… I guess I'll have to rope Shikamaru into this. You don't mind, do you?"

"You'll help me out?" – she said eagerly.

"Yeah. Shikamaru owes me a favor and I'm planning to collect. However, I hope you know that you better make things right with Naruto or I'll make your life miserable!" – Ino threatened.

"Uh… okay. Hey, why aren't you being disdainful about the idea of befriending Naruto?"

"She's a cool girl. We used to hang out before you and I became friends. And we're on pretty good terms. When I rant at her, she knows I'm just posing." – Ino said matter of factly.

Sakura was sad to know she had been the reason Ino was so hideous to Naruto.

:-:

Shikamaru turned out to be quiet receptive to the idea. So they practiced their shinobi skills in planning out the mission: apologize. Sakura found it wasn't quite so bad, all the planning was actually fun and she wished she had been on Ino's team instead. At least there, even if Shikamaru was lazy, she'd have been in neutral grounds with him.

Friday noon came about and with it the deadline she had to complete or else risk the issue of not becoming Naruto's friend.

:-:

Tsunade was amused. The Nara kid had been very cunning in getting her out of the hospital and all for an apology he had nothing to do with. So she listened attentively as Sakura humbly asked for forgiveness. She hesitated a second before saying…

"I accept your apology, but this doesn't mean I'll waive away the debt."

"I know and part of me apologizing to you is accepting the fact that for every action there's a consequence and I'm willing to continuing on to pay up for the debt. It was my fault anyway."

"Very well. You're no longer banned from the hospital, but you're to only come when its extremely necessary for you to do so. I'll pass this on to Naruto." – she said taking the very elaborate flower gift with her as she waved goodbye.

Sakura was in shock for a second. Then she giggled in relief, glad to know things were going to be fine.

:-:

"You owe me Shikamaru." – Naruto said grinning from ear to ear wearing the nurse's uniform whilst staring down at him from her standing position.

Shikamaru groaned.

"You're so troublesome! I owe you nothing, unless you want me to tell her you also aided in not letting her get the attention of the medic-nin before and helping out in the end." – he replied in a lazy drawl.

"Uhh… no. Tsunade-no-baachan would have already relied that tidbit of information to her already. The point of it wasn't for her to humbly apologize, but to see to what means she'd go through to do so. You still owe me."

"Troublesome." – he said as he fished out his wallet from his kunai pocket and threw it to her.

"Mou… I want you to take me to the Ramen stand. If you give me money, it makes me feel like a cheap wh--" - she was stopped from continuing her sentence by Shikamaru's hand.

"Don't say that. Let's go, troublesome woman." – he said sighing knowing now that there was no escape. Troublesome blonds indeed.

_And reality is a treacherous bitch._


	6. Chapter 6

Konoha's Innocent Vixen

By: Kibou32

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Summary: Story of a female Naruto who doesn't want to be Hokage. She's accepted by the villagers for being the Kyuubi's vessel, her father Namikaze Minato – the Yondaime Hokage is still alive after the sealing happened and is dead set against the thought his daughter would become a kunoichi despite the fact that both of the legendary sannin: Tsunade and Jiraiya, are teaching the kid everything they know in hopes of instructing a soon to be powerful shinobi weapon. Watch as Naruto deals with a negative out look from shinobi all around her – including her father's reluctance to seeing her as anything else than a ninja – to the pressure from those she's captured the hearts of to be the Godaime Hokage when all she ever wanted was just to be a regular shinobi with nothing else of importance besides the bijuu residing inside of her.

Pairings: Gaara + Naruto.

Warnings: there may be debauchery, heterosexual sex, etc.

A/N: Previously known as "A Question of Time". I'm sorry... but the first review was discouraging enough... and I got bored with the outline, so I was playing with a different version of it and ended up with this.

:-:

_Freedom is a relative_

_Part I_

:-:

If there was something Naruto didn't understand, it was the tenacity to which Sakura trained now. It was one of her rare days off and here she was watching someone else train with their sensei. She wondered why this reminded her so much of Rock Lee and mused quietly that perhaps all Sakura needed was a deep grounded effort and some sort of motivation to shake off the fangirl in her.

Then she narrowed her eyes when she noticed something wrong. There was that glare again. The glare of a somewhat larger predator than the Kyuubi within her. She felt the fox inside of her stir. Her thoughts might've not shown in her face for Sakura went on as if there was no one there, but Naruto was aware that their sensei knew someone else was watching them.

She stretched her senses out and without making a seal – at least a seal with both of her hands – she summoned her ever faithful kit, Kin. The kittling weaved through the surrounding forest and relayed everything his senses could catch about the threat. The first thing that gave way to realization was the sight of a red haired – obviously lacking sleep – green eyed boy at least an inch shorter than Sasuke hosting a demon the Kyuubi knew as Shukaku. Ah. So it was the same who was sent to kill that dignitary at the Fire Lord's Palace.

"Naruto?" – she heard Kakashi ask her.

"Ah?" – she asked puzzled for a second before she saw her kittling sitting right in front of her.

"What is that?" – she heard Sasuke ask her curious of as to what the fox had to do with her.

"Ah… this? This is Kin. Kin say hello to my sensei and my teammates Sakura and Sasuke."

The kit bent his front paws and bowed, leaving Kakashi a bit astounded to see a fox – an animal he had never met before the Kyuubi in an up-close and personal manner – acting like a well-behaved pet. He was sure that foxes in general were pretty proud and would not kowtow to anyone. That it did what Naruto indicated without another prompt, had him baffled.

"How cute!" – Sakura exclaimed as she also bowed in return to kitsune's hello giggling all the while.

Just before she could say something about their untimely visitor to Kakashi, a crow passed over their heads and Naruto sighed.

:-:

"A mission?"

"Ah. I think considering things have gone on as good as they could be, I want you to go on a C-level mission with your team." – the Hokage stated with a lopsided grin.

"Is that a good idea?" – Kakashi said wondering if his team was ready for this.

"Yes. They have to get some sort of battle-like experience sooner or later." – what he didn't say was that the council was starting to push on the subject for both Naruto's and Sasuke's turn.

"Ah." – was all he said as he slouched lazily in front of his teacher.

"Here you go. It will last you awhile, but considering the chunnin exams are just two months away, it's perfect if you suddenly decide to get them to participate in them."

"Understood." – Kakashi noticed the bold capital letters in the word 'if'. He wasn't sure however if his teacher _wanted _Naruto in the chunnin exams or not.

"Dismissed."

:-:

Naruto went home early not expecting company, but not surprised when seeing Morino Ibiki waiting for her at the door of the Namikaze household.

They had previously known each other due to him being her father's ex-teammate and Naruto came to understand the man even more when words of his brother's defection – although accidental at first – shook him to the core. She understood also that while all the others pitied him, he himself didn't want nor need it.

"Ibiki-san. What can I do for you?" – she said whilst nodding towards the ANBU guard standing not two feet away from them.

"I see that your skills have grown, Naruto-kun." – he said whilst grinning a little bit. His smile was terrifying to see, but Naruto didn't fear it as much as others her age might have been.

"Ah, souka. So what can I do for you? Would you like to come in?" – she said playing the political fiddle to the tee.

"Arigatou gozaimasu."

They went inside. He walked behind her for a couple of seconds but only stopped when she stopped and turned around to face him.

"I have first information tidbits on the forthcoming situation that you and your team will be forced on tomorrow. Your first C-level mission."

"Ah… is it that you think we're not ready for it? Or that you think the client isn't being truthfully forthcoming with what he really needs?"

"The latter. I investigated a man of ill repute in the economical system about a few years ago. His name is Gatou. He's an illegal economic tycoon with hands on everything but slavery auctions. He's currently residing somewhere around Wave Country." – he said seriously.

"Honto ka? And our client is from there… that's too much of a coincidence for me to leave it like that. What do you propose?" – she seemed pensive at first but settled after making the right connections.

"Hatake is very smart and will undoubtedly come to the terms I'm about to explain during the course of your mission, however; I want to plan for the worst and expect the best." – he said whilst grinning sadistically.

"What will you have me do?" – Naruto grinned excited to get something else to do.

:-:

She was bright and early inside the pharmaceutical labs to get what she might undoubtedly need if what Morino Ibiki had told her was true. When her sensei had caught up to her, she was sure the Slug Sannin would have her throat for taking things for such a simple C-level mission to the Wave, but she only smiled benignly and let her go.

Team 7 reported for duty at exactly 10 hundred hours and left the village with their client in tow.

:-:

First sign of trouble came in the shape of two Ame missing nin and from what Naruto could tell, they were at least Chunnin level. She had been on the lookout since they had left the village and when the puddles of water came in sight, she was sure that Ibiki-san hadn't been lying to her.

She heard the whistle of a chainsaw coming at them at high speed, so all she said to her teammates was… "Duck!"

They ducked and moved into a position where they could protect the bridge builder before any of the missing ninja came at them.

One of them turned to their sensei and the other turned to them. When he tried to slash a kunai at Sakura, Naruto parried away and used a bit of her chakra to enhance her strength in her punch so that when it hit the enemy, he would either be thrown backwards or he would die on the spot.

It was over quickly, though.

"Tazuna-san. I had hoped you weren't kidding when you said this was going to be a piece of cake. This mission is now over. We will return and…"

"Wait! Kakashi-sensei! A shinobi doesn't always just retreat from a mission like this!" – Sakura exclaimed condensed at the fact that their sensei wanted to cuddle them like they were five.

Naruto sighed as she took one of the usual kunai and pushed a bit of her elemental chakra into it. It was a blunted kunai for a reason – she always used it for some remedial medical aid or something – and she used it to intimidate their captured prisoner this time around.

"Talk! Who else is coming!"

The man laughed stating in no uncertain terms that he wasn't going to fall for that trick when she made a small slashing motion with the kunai and he winced before beginning to cry like a baby for the cut on his thigh.

All the while she did this, only Sakura was paying attention to her and what she was doing with the missing nin.

:-:

They decided to go on their journey after Tazuna guilt-tripped Kakashi into agreeing. Naruto snorted inwardly at this, but was concerned for how they were to meet up the standards of another higher level shinobi.

It was Sasuke – this time around – who commented on seeing a snow bunny in the middle of their way – once they had managed to leave the country-side behind and entered Wave Country by boat. Kakashi and Naruto were instantly on high alert.

The fight between them – Kakashi and the Demon from the Mist – was ruthless and quick when Zabuza ended up being the recipient of a chakra-enhanced punch of death courtesy of Naruto on his abdomen. Instantly, she jumped out of the way and tried to hit the 'hunter-nin' away from her prey. She hadn't released the Kyuubi's chakra consciously, so the sight of a powerful kunoichi surrounded by a light sheen of red made the so called hunter-nin take a step back.

The hunter-nin made a show of subduing Zabuza and taking him away whilst Kakashi recovered a bit of his breath. Sasuke and Sakura weren't left scott-free from the fight, but their injuries were mild compared to their sensei's and Naruto had to sigh.

"Ok. Tazuna-san… is your house far away from here?" – she queried noticing that the other two of Team 7 were at a loss of what to do in the face of the last fight.

"Uh… no. Just three miles west from here."

"Great! Sasuke, come here and help me carry Kakashi-sensei to Tazuna-san's safe house. Sakura, guard Tazuna and be on alert for more enemy ninja."

And with that their little convoy made their way to the bridge builder's house.

:-:

"Naruto…" – Sakura was helping her with their sensei whilst Sasuke guarded the house.

"Hm?" – she asked as she mixed salves and other herbs into a bowl with a rock.

"You killed those chunnins back there… why?" – she asked softly.

"Are you talking about the missing nin we encountered before making it out of Fire Country?" – she said whilst beginning to undress Kakashi from the waist up. She left his mask untouched.

"Yeah." – she asked while diverting her gaze to her lap instead of staring at their sensei's sexy chest.

"It was a do or die type of thing. I don't expect you to believe me or understand why, but I did it to protect our mission. If you don't like this aspect of being a shinobi, then you should quit while still ahead." – she said in a non-committal tone of voice.

Sakura huffed and said: "That wasn't what I wanted to know. I'm just wondering why you aren't crying! The shrink who told us about killing, told me it'd be okay to cry after it was done."

Naruto stopped for a second and then turned to her new friend with wizened eyes.

"That wasn't the first time I've had to kill someone Sakura-chan. In fact… it probably won't be the last time. It's not like I want to do it, but between being killed and killing someone else, I'd rather not be skewered first. My coping mechanism has never been to cry, but… I'd tell you this though. When my first kill came about, I had nightmares for a month. The advice given to me was to ignore the issue of killing if it bothered me so much. I've learnt to ignore all of the rest. If I dwell into it too much, it'd drive me insane."

Sakura nodded once and then realized that what she had said had a certain truth to that.

"I don't think I'd be able to kill anyone… incapacitate yes, kill no. But I'll worry about that later on."

She watched as her teammate applied the salve on Kakashi's bruises and wondered about that big red spot near Kakashi's inner thigh.

"What?" – Naruto asked once she deemed the injuries correctly bound in white strips of bandages.

"There's a red spot right here." – Sakura indicated softly not knowing whether or not Naruto would do something about that.

"Shit. I'm not sure sensei will see it as an act of good will if I undress him completely." – she said.

"Kakashi-sensei? Nude?" – Sakura gulped.

"Not _nude_ baka!" "Geez, have you never seen a guy naked?! Oh well… an easy medical technique it is!" – she said as she flashed through some hand seals and scanned the red spot. Once she realized it was a minor cut, she went through the same hand seals and healed it with medical green chakra.

Sakura watched entranced at the sight.

"You really know this stuff." – she said in a slightly dreamy voice.

"I have to." – she said but didn't say why in the end.

"I'm leaving you to attend to him while I go check up on Sasuke."

"Hai!" – she said and did not show remorse or even felt it when her teammate say she was going to tend to Sasuke's injuries.

:-:

One week later, whilst awaiting for their sensei to recover, found Naruto feeling too grimy and too sweaty to do anything but go for a bath towards a nearby lake. Since their sensei was recovering much better now that his injuries had finally healed and his chakra was being replenished with deep sleep, Sakura also partook in guarding Tazuna-san when it was her turn whilst Sasuke and Naruto stayed at the house guarding Tazuna-san's family.

Obviously having met and cuffed the smaller boy for being a sniveling brat – courtesy of Sakura for insulting Naruto and Sasuke – Naruto had no desire in staying at the house until Sakura returned so she sighed and said…

"Sasuke… walk with me will you?"

"Ah.. hai." – he said following after her.

He was wondering why did she seemed uneasy and guessed that whatever she was about to tell him might be important if she was lugging away a scroll and she had left two kage-bunshin with the distinct instructions to take care of stragglers and the sort.

He was wondering when they would stop when they came up to a lake not that far away from the bridge builder's house. He watched amazed at first and then blushed now acknowledging what was about to happen as he turned around and decided to give his teammate some privacy.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" – he asked in a breathless tone of voice somewhat uncomfortable to being this close to a naked Naruto.

"I thought you knew… I mean… I probably stink up to heavens… and well… it is extremely important that any of us don't end up hurt just because the other is going to take a bath. While Sakura is out there with Tazuna, I know nothing will happen because I'm sure the missing nins are still recovering from the wounds that occurred a week ago." – she said and then sighed when her hot flesh met the cooling waters of the lake.

He sat down on his haunches wondering when and where had he lost his innocence and now was beginning to feel like a pervert for listening a girl – his teammate no less – taking a bath not three feet away from him. He would thoroughly blame this on his sensei.

:-:

Kakashi woke up ten minutes after Naruto went to take a bath with Sasuke in tow. When Naruto returned from her bath at the lake looking pleased and fresh with a blushing Sasuke in tow, Kakashi briefly wondered if the Hokage would be merciful with him for letting this happen too soon. And then he was shaking his head knowing that for all Sasuke was a boy in his early teenage years, Naruto was not an idiot and wouldn't fall down that lane unless she really wanted to.

"Yo!" – and watched as Sasuke immediately blushed harder whilst Naruto looked at him weirdly for a second and then sighed.

"You're pushing yourself ero-sensei. Go sit down." – she ordered him and he sweatdropped knowing he had forgotten his cute little student was a medical authority and he had to follow her orders whether he wanted to or not.

She then left the room to gather her medical supplies and while this happened Kakashi turned to look at Sasuke and asked…

"What happened?"

"N-nothing!" – he stuttered back to his sensei and Kakashi was sure he'd never hear the end of this from the Hokage.

Sigh…


	7. Chapter 7

Konoha's Innocent Vixen

By: Kibou32

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Summary: Story of a female Naruto who doesn't want to be Hokage. She's accepted – somewhat – by the villagers for being the Kyuubi's vessel, her father Namikaze Minato – the Yondaime Hokage is still alive after the sealing happened and is dead set against the thought his daughter would become a kunoichi despite the fact that both of the legendary sannin: Tsunade and Jiraiya, are teaching the kid everything they know in hopes of instructing a soon to be powerful shinobi weapon. Watch as Naruto deals with a negative out look from shinobi all around her – including her father's reluctance to seeing her as anything else than a ninja – to the pressure from those she's captured the hearts of to be the Godaime Hokage when all she ever wanted was just to be a regular shinobi with nothing else of importance besides the bijuu residing inside of her.

Pairings: Gaara + Naruto.

Warnings: there may be debauchery, heterosexual sex, etc.

A/N: Previously known as "A Question of Time". I'm sorry... but the first review was discouraging enough... and I got bored with the outline, so I was playing with a different version of it and ended up with this.

II A/N: Just so other readers don't despair, I am writing chapter thirteen for Shinobi turned Goddess. It could take me another five more days, but be assure I will put it up as soon as I'm done with it.

:-:

_Truth is skewed _

_Part II_

:-:

If there was something Sakura learnt that bright sunny morning was that having Naruto sticking around with her at the bridge with Kakashi whilst Sasuke stayed back at the bridge builder's house, it was that she couldn't decide whether or not Naruto was that sane.

Kakashi had warned them that Zabuza might come back. Naruto had given out the warning to Sakura – as soon as that came to be – that the supposed hunter-nin in front of them wasn't the right enemy for her due to her lack of regular knowledge with nin-jutsu and told her she should keep to Tazuna's side instead. At first, she had been enraged to being brushed aside, but she realized that Naruto in truth wasn't being overtly cruel by stating so, but being caring in her own monotone sort of way.

In the end, when Sasuke finally managed to get there to help out, Naruto had seemed to be concerned – there was a horrified look in her face – and Sakura had wondered why she thought she had seen a second Naruto disappear into thin air next to her teammate before the action was sped up.

One moment, she saw Sasuke moving over to protect the seemingly lost in thought Naruto inside the dome, the next the dome exploded into red chakra and the mask-less hunter-nin sailed across the floor and stopped a few feet away from the demon mist-nin dead with a gaping hole in his chest.

Sasuke was cradled in Naruto's lap and for a moment – just one moment – Sakura felt jealous. Then it was gone when the bridge builder said he would walk with her towards her teammates fearing the boy who looked like a pincushion was dead.

:-:

Sasuke was asleep thinking he was dead and cold. Then there was a warmth that seared through his skin for a minute or two before it dwindled to a dull heat that made him feel as if he were in his late mother's lap. He murmured – or tried to at least – say Mom or something like that when he found he was not dead and instead there was a weeping sort of sound coming from his left.

He couldn't hear the words, but the hand shifting through his dark locks was motherly in a sense he couldn't explain.

When he finally managed to open his eyes, he saw the relieved green of his teammate Sakura and nothing else. However, the first thing that came from him was…

"Where is Naruto?" – he wondered.

"She is over there tending to Kakashi-sensei."

"And the others?"

"The hunter-nin is dead and so is the other threat. And Gatou is also dead – that's the one who was opposed to Tazuna-san building this bridge."

Sakura informed him of all that came to pass and Sasuke was sad to know that he hadn't been able to see the end of it, but he wondered why he didn't feel anything else about that subject.

:-:

Tazuna decided to build a commemorative stone for Team 7 and the Wave's inhabitants decided that the First Great Bridge of Wave Country needed a name as great as the one's person who changed things in them… Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto. So... they called it the: Great Uzumaki Naruto bridge. When Naruto heard her name being called in cheers, she found herself unable to compute the reason why they were cheering her on as they took their steps out of Wave Country and into the path that would lead them home.

Joking around, Sakura told her that it was probably the new name of the newly completed bridge. Naruto had looked at her skeptically and then shrugged.

"Uh… Naruto…?" – Sakura walked ahead leaving Sasuke and Naruto behind.

The young Uchiha was a little embarrassed to have been healed by his teammate. Even more so when Sakura pointed out – blushing a bit – that Naruto had undressed him to his boxers to seek out any lasting damage caused by the senbon.

"Huh?" – she asked confused as to why her teammate looked so embarrassed.

"Were you… were you the one who caressed my hair after the fight was over?"

Naruto frowned for a second. Was Sasuke insane? She walked up to him to check his temperature and found him a little hot to the touch, but knew it wasn't a fever that arrested him. So he was nervous… then she got reminded of Sakura's blushing face when she saw her crush lying in bed unconscious – Naruto had knocked him out to make sure he wouldn't freak out at having two girls looking at him half-naked – and knew what it was about or at least had a brief idea as to what it might've been he was worried about.

"Un." – she was not puzzled as to why his face looked like a round tomato, but did remember briefly about telling him that he was to stay at home until his chakra pathways recovered after the gruesome training he underwent to reach the top of the tree with the tree-walking exercise and frowned even more.

"I thought I explicitly told you to stay back at the bridge builder's house to recover." – she said in her 'I'm the medic-nin, I know best' tone of voice.

Sasuke visibly grimaced in response.

"But I helped out in the battle didn't I?" – he said the words before he could think about it and immediately clamped up.

She turned to him still frowning and said: "Sasuke, you're my teammate. It's not like I'm thinking I'm better than you. I don't think your skills are subpart to mine, but if you hadn't moved… Tazuna-san could have lost his family back there. If I hadn't left a kage-bunshin behind just in case, Tazuna's daughter would have ended up raped and then killed in front of Inari's eyes."

Sasuke looked horrified at the thought. He hadn't thought about that when he had woken up and found his teammates and his sensei gone from the house towards the bridge. He had just thought of helping out in the battle that was sure to come.

"Next time you become insubordinate to a medic-nin's orders… expect consequences, Sasuke." – and then she turned away and briskly began to walk away.

Sasuke began to walk again after awhile thinking quietly over what his teammate had told him.

:-:-:

Three Weeks later…

It was the Hokage who greeted them at the gates. Kakashi dreaded giving in his report, but knew he had to do something about that anyway. He wondered if his sensei was going to let him live after punching him a new one.

Which was why he was surprised when he saw his sensei – the Hokage! – shoo the other two genin away and turn serious eyes towards his own daughter.

"Shinobi. Report."

"Hai. Hokage-sama." – and then they disappeared in a flash of smoke leaving Kakashi standing there in the middle of the street looking alone and forlorn. And more than a little bewildered.

He gathered his wits and disappeared in a flash of leaves into the Hokage's Tower – outside the Hokage's office's door due to an inability to go in there unless the Hokage himself lowered the shields and let him in.

:-:

If there was one thing Minato hated, was the inability to act like a father around his only child. He always felt deeply uncomfortable when speaking to his daughter. She never called him father or dad. Always was so formal with him, it made him inwardly flinch. In the times when he wasn't being dishonest with himself – yet he always felt miserable for ever thinking as such – he would think that it wasn't his daughter in front of him, but a blond blue-eyed version of the Kyuubi. Naruto was so unlike him – she didn't play pranks, she didn't joke around or laugh that much – that whenever those self-doubting moments came, he felt like such a failure. As a Hokage – he was respected, adored. As a father, he was nothing more than a failure. His daughter cared more for her teachers, her friends, her summons – those damn foxes! – than him.

And who was at fault for that? No one else, but his. He had estranged himself from her by giving her away to be taken care of by his perverted sensei and the Legendary Slug Sannin. It was no wonder that Naruto loved them more than her own father.

"… halfway out of Fire Country, we encountered the demon brothers of the mist. I dispatched of them in the true ANBU fashion and collected their heads in a scroll which now I'm presenting to you Hokage-sama. Then no mere hours before we reached the bridge builder's humble abode, we were forced to meet head on with Zabuza the demon beast of Mist Country. I was unable to kill him due to superior's dangerous health condition after he faced off with A-rank missing nin. However, in the final face-off at the bridge, I managed to collect not only Zabuza's head and sword, but the body of Zabuza's only weapon for further inspection of his body. The weapon's name was Haku and he had narrowly missed being killed off for having a bloodline limit that could manipulate ice or water in Mist Country. From what I was able to ascertain, Haku became Zabuza's loyal dog only because the missing nin in question acted out with kindness towards himself. Since then Haku devoted his life to the whole-hearted service of Zabuza."

"I See." – was all he could say.

"Further details – I'm sure – will be given by my superior officer Hatake Kakashi." – she stated firmly while standing there awaiting for judgement.

"You did good shinobi." – she heard a voice from the left side of the Hokage's only window office say.

She wanted to grin at the unexpected pride heard in that gruff old voice of her ero-sensei, but she didn't. This was a different ball game and she didn't want to look like an over-eager fool in front of the Hokage.

"Jiraiya-sensei… you shouldn't have hidden there." – the Hokage chided at her sensei and she frowned inwardly.

"Ah… but I was only hidden away there from Naru-chan's senses. You already knew I was there, Minato." – she heard her sensei say in a cheerless voice.

"Even so. Very good Naruto, you're now dismissed."

"Thank you Hokage-sama." – and then she nodded towards her sensei and disappeared into thin air.

Minato sighed.

Jiraiya knew his student felt forlorn and decided to tease him about it.

"Ah Minato… you're not moping now… are you?" – he said in his usual salacious way.

"Iie. I'm not moping. I just… feel so tired… every time Naruto steps into this office, I feel like such a failure as a parent."

Jiraiya was undoubtedly worried that his student would set out to bawl right at the minute.

He was wrong, because when there was a knock from the door, Minato sighed once again and then hardened his features to greet Kakashi in.

:-:

Naruto decided that she needed to relax before meeting once again with her two senseis when she heard the distinct crying of the Sandaime's grandson. She sighed. Although Sandaime-sama used to be one of her father's faithful supporters in not letting a kid get the type of training she invariably got, she still cared for that old geezer and she'd be damned if someone hurt his grandson.

"Hey you! Leave him alone!" – she heard her teammate Sakura exclaim and instantly ran over to prevent anything worse from happening.

"Get out of my way, Pinky!" – came out a decidedly older voice. She would have thought that she had heard him before.

When she came out in the open, she found a kabuki male with a puppet on his back and he himself grabbing – almost choking the poor boy in his arm – and holding him high in the air.

"Let him go!" – she stated calmly but felt only mildly disappointed that the male was anything but intimidated.

"Kankuro, don't you dare to make trouble for us!" – said an older girl beside the guy and she was inwardly shocked. She was taller and she had a very feminine figure. But if there was anything that she looked like she wanted the most, was not the sexy figure the girl had, but the huge fan hanging off her back.

A wind mistress by the looks of it.

Naruto looked ready to cry for a second. If there was a weapon that Naruto could never really get her hands on here in Konoha, it was a battle fan. She lapsed into silence for a second before recovering her wits and moving forward to knock the guy out.

Before she could do so, a shuriken was thrown to the kabuki's male hand and he was forced to let the little boy go. She quickly made her gaze go up the tree to discover Sasuke looking mildly troubled. But she was unsure as to why he'd be so.

"You little brat! Come down so I can kill you!" – she heard the guy called as Kankuro say in anger but she was more transfixed by the sight of Sasuke's gaze on her _and _the battle fan rather than anything else.

Still, when she felt the massive killing intent from someone she had previously met, albeit from afar; she shook her head to dispel her thoughts and looked at the redhead who looked a bit manic if the widening in his eyes was anything to go by.

"Kankuro." – it was Sakura – who shivered at the cool tone of voice on the redheaded boy – who acknowledged the fact that these three were here for the chunnin exams.

Something she had found out from Ino's excited drawl earlier that day. She noticed how the guy with paint on his face seemed to shrink a little bit and wondered if she really wanted to know why he looked like he was facing an unbelievably harsh opponent.

"Let's go and not cause trouble." – Temari said.

They turned as one and began to make their way to leave although neither made excuses for being 'troublesome' as Shikamaru would put it and Naruto was hard pressed to let them go like that.

Instead, before she could even say anything; the redhead transported himself from the tree to the ground in a swirl of sand and stood right in front of her.

Both Sasuke and Sakura were a bit concerned for what the redhead would want with their teammate.

"What is your name?" – he asked in a monotone sort of voice.

By that time Temari and Kankuro had turned around at the other corner and watched in amazement as their little brother – their little murdering maniac of a brother – ask in an almost civil way for a girl's name.

"What's it to you? I already know who you are. I don't think I need to prepare myself for your visit tonight, if I give you my name." – she said in a bored tone of voice and slouched her stance a little bit to give the idea that she was unbothered by his question.

"Really?" – he asked looking even more excited if there was anything to go by the way his green eyes widened up a little bit more.

"Un."

And before either of the spectators could do anything else, Gaara of the desert, holder of Shukaku, the one tailed bijuu; had crushed Naruto towards him in what seemed to be an odd embrace.

Naruto was horrified. But she didn't dare show it. If there was anything she hated, it was being hugged by the opposite sex. She didn't like boys the way Sakura liked Sasuke. She figured she would be okay if she ever encountered a mission where she had to lay down with a guy to obtain information, but either way she didn't like boys one single bit. So she pushed him away with chakra laden hands and grimaced inwardly at the burn.

"Never do that again, suna shinobi!" – she exclaimed and then she poofed away from them.

The redhead didn't mind. He looked too pleased with himself. And then when he tried to leave, Sasuke yelled out.

"Hey! What's your name?!" – he called out.

"None of your business, shinobi of the leaf." – the redhead said before disappearing in a swirl of sand.

No one said a word after that.

:-:

Gaara laid on top of the roof watching the moon. He liked the sight of it here more than back home. He knew that his behavior towards the blond kunoichi was out of character of him. But the way she had looked while looking at his sister's fan had ignited this longing in him he didn't know even existed in him. He still felt the bloodlust coming off from his mother, but it seemed as both he and his mother's spirit were in true concordance in that they didn't really wanted to kill the girl.

However, he _would _crush the blond's teammate if the boy ever dared to touch her. Or anyone else for that matter.

:-:

Meanwhile, inside the hospital wing; Tsunade was privy to one thing that unsettled her. The sight of Naruto upset.

"Okay… what is wrong with you?" – she said finally.

Naruto looked unsure as to what she could say. Finally she sighed and sat down on one of the empty chairs in Tsunade's office.

"I met up with Suna's jinchuuriki by mistake." – she stated softly.

"From what I gather, this isn't the first time you met him. Right?" – Tsunade asked as she too took a seat next to the girl who she considered as her own daughter.

"Un. I met him in passing at the Fire Lord's daughter's birthday. He was sent to kill one of the dignitaries from Wind Country. I stopped him once when he tried to do so in front of the girl, but the next time I was late to stop it. Back then, we weren't introduced, but I knew that the brown haired young man was his older brother and that they were stand-ins for the Kazekage like I was for the Hokage. Since we were both the Kage's children, it was easy to see why we were invited."

"Go on."

"I… today I saw them again. The brown haired guy was harassing Konohamaru and well… I had to stop him from abusing the boy. But…"

"But…?" – she prompted again wondering why her little girl looked so ashamed.

"I kind of blanked out for a second at the sight of the Kazekage's oldest's fan. I was kinda jealous of it. Konoha doesn't make battle fans. And since the Hokage never wanted to acknowledge the possibility of inducting me into the shinobi world…"

"Ah. They don't sell battle fans to Konoha. It's something purely from Wind Country. Like a tradition they want to keep. But… I have been trying to find you a cooler weapon, you know." – trying to cheer her up a little bit but knowing that there was also something else that bothered her.

"I know that baa-chan. It's just that… anyway… Sasuke stopped the other guy from harming Konohamaru and when the guy was ready to retaliate, the bijuu holder stepped into the scene. I… don't think he'd come that close to me. From what I understand, he resolutely hates human contact and he is kind of like a maniac for killing… but he asked me what was my name and when I refused to tell him, he hugged me."

Tsunade sighed but inwardly she knew where this was going.

"Naruto… I know you absolutely _hate_ when guys and other boys touch you. But you have to recall that the only reason they do so is because they like you. They're not about to harm you. I knew it was a bad idea for Jiraiya to teach you how to read with his porn novels. Honestly!" – she said as she stood up and walked around the office for awhile.

"Why would a boy – any boy – like me when I don't have that stuff older girls have?! I'm kind of flat in my chest – not that I want breasts per se – and I'm kind of small compared to other girls. I don't get it." – Naruto complained a bit.

"Naruto… some guys like petite girls. And maybe you don't have breasts right now, but you could probably get them later on after puberty. Even so, your personality is the thing most guys like anyway. You're serious and even though no one else would think it, you are mischievous in your own way.. look. I understand right now that boys and men – respectively – for you are completely gross and useless to you. But you have to understand that they're pretty useful from time to time. I suggest you give them a chance one of these days." – Tsunade said in a soothing voice but still knew the outcome of what the girl would say after her small lecture.

"Eww no! I hate boys, you know that!" – she watched semi-amused when the girl shuddered in disgust.

"As for the Kazekage's youngest son… I should suggest you have as minimum contact as possible. The chunnin exams are not on until three weeks more. It all depends as to whether or not Kakashi would appoint you to take the exams or not."

"Un." – she said but was thinking of ways to never see the redhead again if it were possible for her.

:-:

The next day after a long weekend of leisure, found Team 7 by the bridge. Since Hyuuga Hinata was currently away on a mission with her team, Naruto did not go on to train that early in the morning opting for once to be lazy. While if asked why didn't she continue with her schedule, she would answer that she was still stressed out from the last mission; it wasn't true as to why she didn't want to do it though.

Sakura noticed the tension in her friend and wondered what had brought it on. Sasuke on the other hand, looked pensive and a little worried whenever he looked at his blond teammate.

It was to this atmosphere that Kakashi came to the bridge at exactly 900 hours. Even though his students knew him to be much later than the hour he had called them about, he was still unbelievably early for his usual standards given that they had arrived around 8:45 am.

"Yo!" – he said cheerfully and then wilted at the depressed sight of his team.

Sasuke looked awfully worried and Kakashi was sure it had to do something with Naruto since every so often he would looked at her with longing in his eyes. Naruto looked pensive and at the same time disgusted. He was sure it had something to do with what had happened with the jinchuuriki from Suna. He didn't think the process of birth was that gruesome, he'd seen people being disemboweled in the field while Konoha was on war with Iwa; but he guessed that since the sight of Naruto tending to a woman giving birth while the husband kept being rude and weird, should have in any case brought this sort of dislike for any guy coming that close to her. Sakura on the other hand looked calm even though she did seemed to be thinking hard on something.

He sighed and said in the end: "D-level mission today. Let's get going."

And so as a team they moved towards Mrs. Chang's garden and began the torturous process of taking out weeds. Despite the quiet atmosphere, Sakura and Naruto paired up whilst Sasuke did the other side and finished in record time. Then they planted seeds and by the time they were finished, Sasuke was too finished with his side.

He took them to round up cows and watched a bit amused how Naruto seemed to be doing the D-level missions quite well despite not having done them before. He was surprised to see that Sakura – as opposed to the first two weeks after they became Team 7 – and Naruto got along quite well. The only other thing he didn't like was that Sasuke was being left behind so to speak.

They had time for one more D-level mission and then he really needed to have a little chat with them.

:-:

Once things were done, he thought he'd take his students for a late lunch and then… spring up the idea for the chunnin exams.

Things turned awry when before he could make the offer for some barbecue, Morino Ibiki – of all people – arrived from out of nowhere – one could even argue that he could've fallen from the sky – and said he needed to borrow Naruto from this moment on. Before he could take the young girl away, Kakashi thrust the chunnin exam's entrance exam sheet and saw how Ibiki grinned at him. He found he couldn't quite hide the shudder that went through him at whatever implications he could find for Ibiki grinning like that at him. Sasuke was the second one to go – after Kakashi managed to give the lecture he had been about to give to the whole team – with his brother who turned up out of the blue and Sakura just took the sheet and said goodbye saying she had something else to do.

:-:

Naruto saw her team for a much requested – from Sakura anyway – dinner date at the Haruno household two days before the chunnin exams were to be held. She came by – wonders of wonders – with her father not wearing the proverbial Hokage hat or the robes. He was wearing standard jounin uniform. He charmed Sakura so much, Naruto turned her head away in disgust. Kakashi thought the Yondaime was pushing it a bit too much. Itachi – who accompanied Sasuke to the dinner date – agreed with his sempai.

Dinner was uneventful. But Kakashi could see that whatever Sasuke held in his lap – a large package if there was anything to go by – whilst Sassha – Sakura's mother – served them tea and coffee after dinner at the living room was something of great importance.

Eventually, Sakura's mother shooed the younger ones away to take a walk to chat a little bit and let the older ones talk amongst themselves.

"Ne… Sasuke-kun?" – Sakura asked in a soft shy tone of voice. Kakashi was eavesdropping to be sure, but he _really _wanted to know what was in that large package as much as Sakura did.

"Hn."

"Oi! Don't talk to Sakura-chan like that, teme!" – was Naruto's harsh reply. Kakashi was sad to acknowledge the fact that she was in a bad mood due to her father's appearance at the dinner date.

"Gomen. It's just that, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but I didn't get you anything and this one is for Naruto." – Kakashi could see that Sasuke's response had Sakura rattled and depressed.

"Oh. In that case, I'll give you a minute alone, ok?" – and then she ran ahead leaving her two teammate alone.

"Tch. You just had to do that, didn't you Sasuke?" – Naruto said as she gazed with troubled eyes at Sakura who was way ahead of them.

"Un. I had to. Better this way than if I were to give this to you in front of her. I… I noticed that you looked infinitely upset to see that Suna kunoichi carrying a battle fan and I wanted to thank you for being the best teammate ever… so… …" – he stopped there for a second before looking to the floor and thrusting the package towards her without looking up.

Naruto looked pensively at the package for a moment before she took it. But she didn't open it.

"I don't like boys Sasuke. So you better not be having ideas in your head that I'd grant you a date or whatever in thanks to this!" – she stated softly watching not directly at him but to the side as if warding herself off from his blush at being caught dead on.

"Hn. I wasn't about to ask you out anyway." – he said pouting a little bit.

"Good." – and then she turned to look at him and sighed.

Kakashi was surprised to see her leaning towards him in what looked to be a kiss on the lips. It turned out to be a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks for the gift." – then she turned away from him and started to walk away leaving him standing there frozen shocked and speechless.

"However, just to show you have no favorites in between Sakura and I; you have to get her a gift too!" – she stated softly so as to not attract Sakura's attention from where she was seating a block away at the park.

Sasuke dazed could only nod.


	8. Chapter 8

Konoha's Innocent Vixen

Konoha's Innocent Vixen

By: Kibou32

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Summary: Story of a female Naruto who doesn't want to be Hokage. She's accepted – somewhat – by the villagers for being the Kyuubi's vessel, her father Namikaze Minato – the Yondaime Hokage is still alive after the sealing happened and is dead set against the thought his daughter would become a kunoichi despite the fact that both of the legendary sannin: Tsunade and Jiraiya, are teaching the kid everything they know in hopes of instructing a soon to be powerful shinobi weapon. Watch as Naruto deals with a negative out look from shinobi all around her – including her father's reluctance to seeing her as anything else than a ninja – to the pressure from those she's captured the hearts of to be the Godaime Hokage when all she ever wanted was just to be a regular shinobi with nothing else of importance besides the bijuu residing inside of her.

Pairings: Gaara + Naruto.

Warnings: there may be debauchery, heterosexual sex, etc.

A/N: Previously known as "A Question of Time". I'm sorry... but the first review was discouraging enough... and I got bored with the outline, so I was playing with a different version of it and ended up with this.

:-:

_And Love is a two way street._

_Part III_

:-:

Sakura didn't like the word 'defeat'. She hated it with a passion. But this time, she knew it to be true when Sasuke – her Sasuke-kun – had chosen Naruto and was going to ask her for a date. But she refused to dwindle down the path of depression because she wasn't the one Sasuke-kun wanted.

Of course, Sakura noticed immediately when Naruto came by and didn't hold hands with Sasuke who was lagging behind her looking positively cute with his pouting face. Of course, she thought that her teammate was either being kind to not rub it in her face. Of course, she didn't expected to be set up with a kawarimi and being made – how did her teammate do it?! – to kiss Sasuke-kun on the lips.

And then… she was being guided back to her house, and the rest was a blur.

:-:

Sasuke could have gagged. He could have. Except, the brush of lips against lips with his pink haired teammate wasn't as bad as he imagined it to be. But let it be known that his heart thumped like crazy when he was given a kiss on his cheek by his blond haired teammate rather than Sakura's kiss on the lips.

He went home with his aniki wondering why on earth did his teammate not like guys. Had someone done something so bad that she preferred not to dwell in a relationship with one? He hoped – against all odds – that she was really kidding and that maybe in a few years, she'd be okay with dating guys. And although the wait would surely kill him, he found himself anticipating the change.

:-:

That morning when the chunnin exams started was one of the biggest and most troublesome mornings to ever exist, in Shikamaru's opinion. He was met with Team 8 consisting of Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuuga Hinata and Aburame Shino, and Team 7 consisting of Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke. And he could tell that the two leaders of the other two teams agreed with him, this was a too troublesome event to have bothered with. Whereas his teammate Yamanaka Ino instantly latched onto an annoyed Uchiha Sasuke, he was surprised when the other blond merely narrowed her eyes at his other teammate Akimichi Chouji and said chubby friend stopped eating the chips and flushed. He quirked an eyebrow for that.

They proceeded to talk amongst themselves quietly after that. He resolved to find out why his dear chubby friend was so quirky with Naruto and why Sakura wasn't competing against Ino for the Uchiha's attention, when a senbon made its way to them.

Naruto, briefly entertained the idea of stopping it; Shikamaru saw and although he was puzzled as to why she didn't, the ensuing speech coming from her lips made him groan out loud.

"Now listen you pipsqueaks! I'm Uzumaki Naruto, and I will become chunnin before all of you!" – she said loudly.

Sasuke shook his head wondering why this reminded him of someone else he was sure he had met before. He wracked his memory for it and whitened at the thought that his teammate was instigating a fight – for reasons that escaped him – in the manner so resembling one Mitarashi Anko. He hoped to God that this wasn't a mirage of things to come in the future.

:-:

The first test was going great so far that Naruto didn't worry. Even when Morino Ibiki prompted the do or die question, as to whether or not to take the mission aka the question itself, she didn't bother to think about whether or not one of her teammates would cave under the weight. But the scent of something snake brought her out of her stupor… there was someone here who didn't belong… and she didn't like that very well.

When Mitarashi Anko came into the scene, Sasuke didn't blink. Sakura was a little cowed at the sight of the black haired lady who was so indecent it almost hurt to see, but didn't back down. Naruto, however; narrowed her eyes and made eye contact with Morino Ibiki. The man stopped grinning and nodded acknowledging her need to talk.

"Meet me at the Forest of Death in an hour. Further instructions will be handed out by your jounin senseis. Dismissed!" – and then she disappeared through the window as she'd done before when she came in.

Sasuke sighed and trudged up to his teammates only to see Naruto looking at Team 10's leader – Nara Shikamaru – and for a moment his heart burned with jealousy. He wondered what could she have been thinking about, but was slightly in shock when the lazy teen straightened and followed his teammates out of the classroom.

"What's up, Naruto?" – Sakura asked perceiving that something was out of the norm.

"I want you both to do me a favor. Go home and pack as if you were going for a C-level mission outside Konoha. You know the hypothetical situations expressed in the ninja handbook, right Sakura?" – Sakura straightened and nodded firmly.

She turned to Sasuke and said… "I want to also give you this list. Do you think you can get what's in it for me before we have to be at the Forest of Death? And let's meet at Ichiraku's first before heading over there, ok?" – then she turned away from him not awaiting for a response and Sasuke took it to mean that he and Sakura were being dismissed.

He wanted to ask her what was going on, but he refrained because he ascertained that it was going to be serious.

:-:

"Ok. What's up?" – Shikamaru asked once he were certain he was alone.

A Naruto-blood clone came up and shushed him, before ascertaining that she wasn't going to be heard.

"Forfeit."

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes and said: "Is this a test? Like Iruka-sensei did for us before the exams? Because it ain't going to work."

"You're ready for all that comes your way, right Shikamaru?" – she asked pensively.

"Yeah. I'm sure me and my team can get through whatever they will put us through." – he stated firmly.

"Well then… I want you to promise me that whatever you do, you won't go anywhere near the Suna or the Ame team. Don't go for Hyuuga Neji's team either, they won't help you out."

"You want me to stay clear out of the Suna and the Ame team. Why?" – he said skeptically.

"Here's the new intel." – she said as she handed him a scroll containing information on those teams and the like.

Shikamaru knew her intimidation spiel at the beginning of the test had proven correct, since no one had dared to come near her team before or after the written test. And as he searched through the scroll he frowned and decided he needed time to contemplate what was being said, but time was what he didn't have. He never took Naruto to lie to him and especially about the things she had written in the scroll. So he sighed and decided to go home and prepare.

:-:

Aburame Shino and Uzumaki Naruto never spoke to each other. They both knew the other well enough and understood each other so well that there was no need for words, unlike with the Nara boy where Naruto had to speak out loud to get the message across. This time, however; Shino narrowed his eyes in a glare that Naruto could sense – even if she couldn't see – and said…

"Why did you give yourself the trouble of informing us about this?" – he asked.

"Hinata is my friend. I care about her. I don't want to see her hurt. Do you?" – she simply said responding to Shino's query with a question of her own.

He contemplated the answer and all the hidden messages in those lines and then shook his head in response. He nodded and bided by her word. He took to understand that only his team, Nara's team and her team were advised to stay away from the other teams mentioned in the scroll. He understood the worry and acknowledge her skill. He would go on with the plan.

:-:

Morino Ibiki was shocked for a second before duty arouse in him and said…

"Uchiha Sasuke cannot go on to the second test. If Orochimaru is here as you say he is… his life is in serious danger."

"I know… but… you can't disallow Sasuke from entering the exam. And… if you somehow managed to get Itachi to switch with Sasuke, Orochimaru would know we are aware he's here and take drastic measures. All I ask is that you cheat in favor of Konoha without the other teams finding out." – she said with her head bowed to the side.

Ibiki looked at the Hokage sitting on his chair behind the desk looking incredibly pensive, but accepted that even though this was his little girl asking for a loop, he would abide by it because he wanted his precious people unhurt. And even ninjas had to cheat to save their lives, theirs wasn't an honorable job. Honor was more for samurais than them.

He nodded and poofed out of the room to go speak with his colleague.

:-:

Sasuke entered Ichiraku ramen to find his sensei sitting at one of the stools in the ramen bar. He was sure he was late, but in truth it seemed he was only a few minutes earlier than what he thought was possible. After a few minutes of silence, Sakura rushed into the ramen bar and sat down on a stool trying to calm herself down. And two minutes later, Naruto poofed in looking grim.

"Ohayo Kakashi-sensei." – she said in a subdued tone of voice. Sasuke was concerned but didn't ask. They only had a scant fifteen minutes before they had to run to the Forest of Death for the second test.

"Yo! Eat up, you'll probably won't be eating as good as this for a long while." – he said, Sakura looked at him perplexed and then it dawned on her, this little chat was a ruse. But still, she took his words to heart and ate until she was full and then some.

:-:

The village was going on with its business as usual. Orochimaru and his peon Kabuto noticed nothing out of the ordinary going on. But, there was something going on even if the legendary sannin didn't notice it. Shinobi all around were preparing, they looked unhurried in their business, but they were preparing. They knew their village was in danger and they wanted to protect it. They weren't going to be taken by chance.

_But only you can decide how to make the tides switch to your favor._


	9. Chapter 9

Konoha's Innocent Vixen

By: Kibou32

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Summary: Story of a female Naruto who doesn't want to be Hokage. She's accepted – somewhat – by the villagers for being the Kyuubi's vessel, her father Namikaze Minato – the Yondaime Hokage is still alive after the sealing happened and is dead set against the thought his daughter would become a kunoichi despite the fact that both of the legendary sannin: Tsunade and Jiraiya, are teaching the kid everything they know in hopes of instructing a soon to be powerful shinobi weapon. Watch as Naruto deals with a negative out look from shinobi all around her – including her father's reluctance to seeing her as anything else than a ninja – to the pressure from those she's captured the hearts of to be the Godaime Hokage when all she ever wanted was just to be a regular shinobi with nothing else of importance besides the bijuu residing inside of her.

Pairings: Gaara + Naruto.

Warnings: there may be debauchery, heterosexual sex, etc.

A/N: Previously known as "A Question of Time". I'm sorry... but the first review was discouraging enough... and I got bored with the outline, so I was playing with a different version of it and ended up with this.

As promised… here's the much longer installment of Konoha's Innocent Vixen. In this chapter you'll see the whole chunnin arc and the aftermath. All I have to say is 'Poor Naruto!' On the other hand, the Akatsuki issue will come into play in the upcoming chapters. I'm still tinkering on it, so refrain from asking just yet. Enjoy.

:-:

_We're our own masters_

:-:

Sakura was surprised to see Yamanaka Ino standing in front of her, to her side stood Aburame Shino kissing! They were all awaiting for the exams proctor to arrive and suddenly her friend was kissing Shino and Chouji was acting like Ino had betrayed him or something. It degenerate into quite a scandal too. She formed the seal for releasing a genjutsu, but nothing happened. She looked to the side to Sasuke and found him looking infinitely interested but that could have been construed as mild curiosity. She wondered what was going on when Chouji decided to use his fists to hit Shino when Kiba got into it by defending his team. And all the while this went on, they didn't noticed that it wasn't really Chouji, Ino or Shino creating havoc on the grounds before the Forest of Death.

After awhile, the proctor came by looking a bit on the sadistic side and decided to break the lover's quarrel and hand out the consent forms. Sakura stood to listen intently, wondering what had really gone on and wanting to ask Ino what was going on, but didn't dare because Naruto was standing next to her and she took to it, understanding this was business and pleasure would only come after the exam was over.

:-:

As Naruto had predicted, they would only make it to the Tower in time if they joined forces. Sasuke was incredulous of how the Nara's team and the Aburame's team came to them almost two hours into the exam.

"What's this?" – he asked his blond haired teammate fearing that she had sold them out or something.

"My kitsune got these scrolls for us. Each of us have the two scrolls needed and a second set, let's move to the tower before we get caught by a bigger threat." – she stated without saying much and Sasuke sighed feeling weird.

:-:

His plan thwarted, Orochimaru wondered what could he do to get the other Uchiha into his hands. Madara hadn't been much forthcoming into his plan, the older male much wiser than he; had seen through his game and sent him packing. So now here he was wanting to get the youngest Uchiha's eyes. But with such a strong unit made of teamwork… and the all knowing eyes of Konoha's jinchuuriki… he didn't dare take a step in. He didn't think he'd be able to play fight with her knowing that the girl was at least above chunnin level, but had beyond kage chakra levels. He wondered what was to come next and how he'd get his revenge against Konoha all in one swoop.

:-:

The conglomeration of the nine rookies made it to the Tower with no problems. Only to find that their ordeal wasn't over. Morino Ibiki took each genin aside to perform an psychiatric evaluation that was in lieu of the test since they _had _cheated. Naruto didn't tell her comrades that she had gotten the scrolls through unsavory means. She was embarrassed enough as it were.

Sasuke sat down on the chair and talk to the shinobi thinking this was going to be a piece of cake, only to blushed to the roots of his hair when faced with the lewd questionnaire that the questioner began to throw at him.

Yondaime Hokage watched the proceedings with a careful eye, was somewhat amused that the youngest Uchiha had libido whereas the oldest didn't even so much as bat an eye towards girls in general. On the other hand, he wasn't so much amused but sad when his daughter's turn came to be. The girl didn't so much as flinch when asked a hypothetical situation where she had to choose between her father and the village. The answer was simple and so much more hurtful. She had stated that while she was sworn to protect the Hokage and the village in that order, if she had to choose between them, then she'd kill the threat to her home and then commit seppuku in self-punishment for having killed her own kin. It was depressing to know she didn't care for him much, but that she would kill herself for dishonoring her family name. He wanted to weep.

Still once each and every genin – including those that weren't from Konoha – were screened, Ibiki turned to him and said…

"Orochimaru wasn't there. Anko was sure that the Ame-team we found with their heads defaced, was just a decoy for Orochimaru to get what he wanted. Your daughter, Hokage-sama did good in saving her teammate from being cursed." – then he bowed and left the room leaving the Hokage to his thoughts.

He vowed right then and there to train Naruto for the third part of the exams.

:-:

The preliminaries were a way to scrounge up the undeserving. So it was with great surprise that Hyuuga Neji was put up against his cousin first, to which Hyuuga Hinata stepped aside instantly because she didn't want to fight against family; and then met up against Uzumaki Naruto.

Tsunade was sure that Naruto wouldn't pull her punches, so it wasn't a big surprised when the Hyuuga grimaced when one of his light punches resulted in a uncooperative shoulder. Naruto had used the boy's own chakra to reverse the hit and assault him instead.

In the end, Naruto made the boy fall on his face.

"You disgust me, Hyuuga. You scoffed at Hinata-chan because she didn't want to fight you. You said she was weak. You're wrong. She's very strong. She's even stronger than you. She has a heart. And that's something you're missing out on. Fate doesn't gives you a hand just because you were rookie of the year or because you're good with your jyuken. It is you who makes the changes on your life, it is you who takes control of your destiny, not fate. You're worthless."

Sasuke won against an older Konoha genin without even having to use his sharingan. Orochimaru – hidden in the shadows – was sad to see this. Sakura, however; had to fight Ino on her preliminary round and lost in a double knockout.

:-:

Sakura sat on the ramen stool looking forlorn next to her teammates. She had lost.

"Sakura. Don't feel bad that you lost. You've gotten better than I could have ever hoped for. But don't think that because you didn't advance, I'm letting you off the hook. After all, you have to help me train Sasuke for the third exams." – Kakashi said giving her an eye-grin. She smiled softly thinking that that was okay too.

Naruto, on the other hand was pensive. She had to fight a Sound genin which she knew nothing of. She was wondering what would her baachan teach her this time around. There was something in the air and she stiffened knowing who it was ahead of time.

"Naruto-kun." – Itachi said.

Sasuke exclaimed something to his aniki which Itachi responded with a smile and ruffle on his hair, but otherwise looked at Naruto the whole time.

"Hokage-sama is calling me?"

"Yes. He's expecting you in his office."

She swore and then apologized for leaving in the middle of their downtime and disappeared in a poof of smoke. Kakashi smiled sadly at the thought that whatever his sensei was going to say to Naruto, it wasn't going to be pretty.

:-:

"You want to what?!" – she exclaimed forgetting her stoic disposition.

The man in front of her had shocked her when he said he'd be teaching her for the final exam. He said he knew that the opponent she was facing was someone she could handle, but that if something were to pass; if she had to fight against Suna's jinchuuriki or that traitor Kabuto, he wanted her to be ready for them.

She scoffed at him then and when he said nothing in exchange, not even a gentle rebuke or a demand that she apologize for her slight; she grimaced and said…

"I assume, Tsunade-sama is taking your place in the meanwhile, right?"

He nodded once.

"Lead the way, Hokage-sama."

:-:

A Month Later…

:-:

Kakashi arrived earlier than usual to the Stadium with Sasuke. This was D-Day and everyone knew it, even if his student didn't.

"Why are we here early, sensei?" – he heard Sasuke ask.

Itachi had been unable to give Sasuke the time to train him himself, so the job had been delegated to Kakashi. He was aware that everyone was getting ready for the invasion. Ibiki had managed to glean this fact from the Sound team when being screened before the second exam had finished. Kinuta Dosu had been sufficient enough that Ibiki had been aware of the traitor Kabuto. The final count of those who'd made it to had been this…

Nara Shikamaru

Sabaku no Temari

Aburame Shino

Yakushi Kabuto

Uchiha Sasuke

Sabaku no Gaara

Uzumaki Naruto

Kinuta Dosu

Because there wasn't a call to ask who wanted to quit, Kabuto stayed, but was the odd one who didn't get to fight in the preliminaries although, Hyuuga Neji who did get to fight twice. The Hokage was aware of Yakushi's betrayal to the leaf, but let him get scott-free from fighting in the preliminaries and pass on unhindered to the third part of the chunnin exams. They were aware of the Snake Sannin's manipulations of the board, but even if he _had _wanted to test-drive the Uchiha despite not being marked by his curse, they didn't let him go that easily.

Except… Sabaku no Kankuro at being told he had to fight one of Kabuto's teammates said he'd forfeit due to an injury during the exam. Since they couldn't quite tell him that they knew he was lying, they let the issue go.

"So that you can look closely at the place you're going to be fighting in. Get in tune with your surroundings, Sasuke; so that your opponent doesn't take you by surprise." – he said in the end.

Kakashi – on the other hand – poofed out and decided to find a place where he could watch the fights. Soon after he found a seat, he watched as the Hokage – although it were a bit far from where he was sitting – greet the mandataries, lords, ladies, commerce people and the like and set them up in a private galley meant for them. He knew – as he had been part of the team to set up the seals – that those galleys were protected by a difficult array of seals to make sure that nothing harmed them, not even the invasion itself that they weren't supposed to be privy of.

Sasuke took a look at the surroundings. He was mildly disturbed however to find Sabaku no Gaara standing not five feet away from him. He was his competitor in the third part of the exams and they were the third fight after Nara Shikamaru and Sabaku no Temari duke it out and Aburame Shino and Yakushi Kabuto fight as well. They had left Naruto and the Sound genin for the last. But Sasuke had the thought that things were about to change. More so because of the redhead's untimely visit to his training spot with his sensei and him saying he had taken care of some people.

The warning that the redhead gave to him sickened him and he wanted to rip the guy a new one for daring to suggest he wasn't the right kind of guy for Naruto. And so he wanted to wipe the manic grin on his face that early morning.

"Uchiha Sasuke. I will kill you to prove my existence to Uzumaki Naruto." – he quietly stated and then turned around to go stand by the shade.

Shortly after he said that, he noticed that the stadium began to fill up and he could hear the greetings and the whatnot to him. He tuned those out. He looked everywhere, every nook and cranny to make certain he knew his terrain and how he could use it better.

:-:

Naruto was the last one to arrive. Yakushi Kabuto and Kinuta Dosu didn't make it to the stadium in the appointed time. Which prompted the jounin delegated to rate the exam and the ones fighting to make a switch in the fights.

In the end, they ended up like this.

First fight: Nara Shikamaru + Sabaku no Temari

Second fight: Aburame Shino + Uchiha Sasuke

Third Fight: Sabaku no Gaara + Uzumaki Naruto.

Sasuke was troubled in that he had to fight a shinobi of the leaf, but he was even more disturbed at the fact that his teammate had to fight that manic redhead. The redhead however didn't seem to mind the changes. Neither did the crowd once they understood that the redhead genin was none other than the youngest son of the Kazekage whereas the petite kunoichi was the only daughter of the Yondaime Hokage. A mock fight between two Kages represented by their kids. The crowd roared in approval.

In one of the sits; Haruno Sakura, Hyuuga Neji, Hyuuga Hinata knew for a fact that something was wrong. The petite kunoichi known to them as Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto wasn't really there at the arena. Hinata narrowed her eyes and looked at her cousin signaling that there was something amidst. There seemed to be more ANBU bodyguards around.

Neji – whilst he had been kind of a jerk to his cousin before – had reformed after the sound beating the petite kunoichi had given him and nodded in acknowledgement on what seemed to be a charged place.

:-:

Shikamaru knew that – from Naruto's intel a month and one week prior – the girl before him had a weapon that used wind. He understood then and there that he needed to come with an strategy that would make her tired and get him to be able to use his Kagemane the quickest before he ran out of chakra. He also knew that something was going to happen and that he needed to conserve chakra should he need to fight later on.

Half way into the fight he noticed a freebie that Naruto had left him. A hole hidden by a genjutsu that led to the back of Temari. It gave him enough to get her there by pushing her to retreat and then he caught her and thunk her out with her own fan. He had won and had not lost a lot of chakra. What Genma – who was the proctor for the exam – saw was that he had the skills to be a chunnin.

The fight between Sasuke and Shino advanced more quickly due to the fact that they were both antsy and angry at the situation that they found themselves in. Sakura up on the stands wished for Sasuke to win, but Hinata knew that Shino was evenly matched with Sasuke and wondered who'd win or if it'd be a double knockout.

Shino came to the same conclusion Hinata did moments before and forfeited to Sasuke's dismay. Genma knew then and there that neither boy had the skills yet to advanced. Shino didn't seem to have made the effort to think things through enough to get to the point where he could have found an alternative to win or at least if not to win, but to defeat his opponent. Sasuke was just too flashy and too cocky for him to be aware of others. He didn't seem to have the skills to lead a team and Genma wondered if perhaps having a flashy older brother made things harder for the young Uchiha.

And at last came the event the whole stadium had been waiting for. One even the Kazekage had his 'panties' in a twist. Minato, however; seemed to be fine and Orochimaru under the guise of the Kazekage wondered why that was. He made a movement to ask if the Hokage was so sure his daughter would win, but found himself unable to speak. He looked around to wonder about this new turn of events and couldn't find a hint of something wrong, except he couldn't make his vocal cords work.

In the arena, Gaara looked at the petite kunoichi in front of him and grinned maliciously.

"What are you grinning about?" – Naruto said with a growl. She could feel the heat of the battle in her loins and wondered if the Kyuubi was inciting her to throw herself on top of the redhead and tear him from limb to limb.

"I'm thinking that I would like to make you mine right now."

Naruto was frozen in shock for a full minute enabling Gaara to make the first move after Genma gave the 'Go' to start the fight.

She evaded the fist thrown to her face, but didn't seem to evade the sand that had risen to grab her feet to keep her still.

At the box where the fighters were, Temari frowned wondering what Gaara was up to now. If her little brother had been fighting the Uchiha, everything would have been fine. But since the fights were moved up by Gaara's interfering and Kabuto's MIA, she didn't know what to expect from him. He was always so predictable! And now… he comes to Konoha with them for the invasion and whoosh, all the predictability out the window.

At the arena, Naruto had kawarimi'd herself with a clone and called upon a couple of clones to keep the redhead busy while she set up a fancy array of seals around him. Once she had finished, she summoned.

Gaara fell asleep. And then the invasion began.

:-:

"You thought you'd get away with this once again Orochimaru?" – Jiraiya when Orochimaru attempted to draw a dagger into the Yondaime's heart. Only it didn't turned out to be Namikaze Minato underneath the robes, but Jiraiya himself.

Orochimaru hissed out… "What on earth are you doing here, Jiraiya?!"

Either Orochimaru had thought himself superior to Minato in every way and form or there had to be something wrong with the world and the information for Orochimaru to be dealt with the ultimate slap in the head. On his other side stood Tsunade grinning sadistically at him whereas the other two ANBU who had hidden away from Orochimaru, turned out to be Uchiha Itachi in full battle gear and the Yondaime Hokage himself.

There was a cry and Orochimaru met his end.

:-:

On the outskirts of Konoha, where the fighting had already reached a standstill stood Temari and Kankuro holding on to their little hope of salvation. Gaara was unconscious, but they hoped he'd awaken by the time the group of Konoha genin caught up to them.

They were wrong. Gaara awoke just as Kankuro stopped to fight Uchiha Sasuke and Aburame Shino. Thus, Temari took Gaara to hide whilst she figured out what to do. Except, she was met with three kunoichi who she had previously underestimated and Gaara was left alone.

"Sabaku no Gaara, you're under arrest for trying to release your bijuu and killing innocent victims in Konoha. Surrender, and I'll go easy on you." – came the tired voice of Naruto.

Gaara didn't say anything at first and then seemed to surrender, but when Naruto came close enough to him, he turned their positions and forced his body on her. She grimaced and wanted to escape, but didn't managed. He was stronger than her and she without using chakra, was as vulnerable as a babe.

"I surrender, but in turn you'll surrender to me."

"Never." – she hissed out.

And then Gaara did something she had never thought was possible. He licked her shoulder and then began to mouth small kisses on her neck.

This was something she didn't think the redhead knew about. After all, why teach a powerhouse to seduce an enemy if he could just squash the enemy like bugs.

And if it hadn't been due to her sensei coming to her rescue, she didn't know how much Sabaku no Gaara might've gotten away with.

:-:

Minato was wondering what was going on with his daughter. During that _one _month they had spent together training, he found himself making a bond with her. He taught her seals, but more than enough; had her sign the toad contract and had watched in awe how she managed to summon Gamabunta on the first try. He had suffered a lot trying to control the toad boss from not killing her, but it was in vain because Gamabunta had taken a liking to his little girl much more than to him.

Now sitting behind his desk and looking at her, he witnessed something in those blue eyes that hadn't been there before. There was emotion in them. Naruto was a straight stick and her eyes were so deadened it wasn't even funny. But now they were lively and wonderful. He wished to know what was making her angry though. She seemed about to spit fire. And worst was that, his ex-student Kakashi seemed privy to some intel about why his daughter seemed so angry and he wasn't telling.

He sighed and took out the chunnin vest.

"Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto. You have been summoned here by the elder council, the clans council and the villagers council to decree your promotion as chunnin. Do you accept the duty and the obligations that come with it?" – he didn't name the privileges because he was sure she knew of them well enough.

"I accept." – and then she bowed.

:-:

Yuuhi Kurenai was seldom surprised by new turn of events. But when newly promoted chunnin Uzumaki Naruto presented herself at her doorstep wearing a chagrinned expression on her face, she decided that something was amiss.

"Please come in." – she directed Naruto as she turned around and went back to her living room.

Naruto took her shinobi sandals off and closed the door behind her. She sat down on one of the couches in Kurenai's spacious living room and said nothing for a while. Kurenai, prompted by the silence asked the girl if she wanted something to drink. Naruto declined.

"Well then… what brings you to my apartment?"

"I need training." – she said simply although her chagrined expression didn't waver in the slightest.

Kurenai looked at her wondering what type of training could the Hokage's daughter need after being apprenticed by two of the three legendary sannin.

"What kind of training?" – Kurenai prompted when the girl didn't expound the idea.

"…" – there was silence. Kurenai tired of the silence stood up, sat down next to the girl and said…

"Ok. This isn't working out. You need to tell me what you want and why, before I agree to giving you some training."

"I'm… I'm unsure of what kind of training I need, but Hinata said you'd be able to help me out. I… I don't like how I was beaten by the Suna genin at the forest surrounding our village during the invasion. Had it not been due to my sensei, I'm unsure if I could have been able to get out of that sticky situation."

"From what I understand… you weren't beaten. You won."

"No, I didn't. He took me by surprise and…"

"I see no injuries, what is wrong?" – she asked concerned now as tears of frustration began to leak out of the girl's blue eyes.

Naruto took her chunnin vest off and lowered her shirt off one of her shoulders to show her the mark that had yet to fade. A hickey. It had been a week and a half from the invasion and the mark was still there. She thought the guy probably used some demonic chakra to keep it from disappearing. And the Kyuubi thought it funny that she had been marked at all that it refused to make it disappear saying it'd take time for the mark to fully be gone. At least three weeks! Naruto couldn't wait that long! She needed to know how to defend herself from sexual predators such as that lecherous redheaded Suna genin.

Kurenai looked at the mark and was tempted to laugh. But she didn't. she was sure the girl had told no one of the mark and with the exception of Hatake Kakashi, she was sure she was the only one who knew about it. And then she frowned. Wasn't this covered in the usual teaching lessons of how to seduce by Suzume-sensei? Perhaps the lessons at the Academy had gone under a change. She narrowed her eyes and then sighed relaxing as she understood the girl's dilemma.

"Ok. You need a makeover."

Naruto was startled at the words, what could that mean? And how would that help her in a future contend against Sabaku no Gaara?

_But sometimes we don't own the leash._


	10. Chapter 10

Konoha's Innocent Vixen

By: Kibou32

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Summary: Story of a female Naruto who doesn't want to be Hokage. She's accepted – somewhat – by the villagers for being the Kyuubi's vessel, her father Namikaze Minato – the Yondaime Hokage is still alive after the sealing happened and is dead set against the thought his daughter would become a kunoichi despite the fact that both of the legendary sannin: Tsunade and Jiraiya, are teaching the kid everything they know in hopes of instructing a soon to be powerful shinobi weapon. Watch as Naruto deals with a negative out look from shinobi all around her – including her father's reluctance to seeing her as anything else than a ninja – to the pressure from those she's captured the hearts of to be the Godaime Hokage when all she ever wanted was just to be a regular shinobi with nothing else of importance besides the bijuu residing inside of her.

Pairings: Gaara + Naruto.

Warnings: there may be debauchery, heterosexual sex, etc.

Author's Note: As promised… Akatsuki comes to play. No romance in this chapter, though. Bummer.

:-:

_Getting your life back_

:-:

Gaara was not amused at the new turn of events. He was stuck in a prison cell surrounded by ANBU all around and awaiting the judgement of the Yondaime Hokage. In this cell, with its strange seals and whatnot; he felt estranged and alone. He had always been alone. But the bijuu inside of him had always had a running commentary and his mother had always told him he had to kill… so the silence inside his mind was killing him. And the gourd with his mother's spirit was gone, so he was unsure of what the future may hold for him. He wondered what could he do now.

"Good morning, Gaara-kun." – a voice to his left said. He stood up from where he sat and looked at the man who so resembled the object of his lust.

"…" – he didn't say anything.

Two ANBU crossed the threshold and grabbed him each by one arm to keep him steady. He didn't try to overpower them. He knew he was virtually useless without the sand.

"I'm sure you know who I am. My name is Namikaze Minato, I'm the Hokage. I was told you have problems with the bijuu in you, is that correct?" – he heard the man ask him.

He wanted to tell him to shut up and stop being nice to him, but he knew he couldn't. Sitting here in this cell had made him stop and think. He could see that his want for the petite blond kunoichi wasn't the bijuu affecting him, but he could actually see that he really wanted her. Except… the kisses he made towards her… he could tell he had frightened her. Why had he frightened her?

And then he remembered where he was and decided to do nothing, say nothing. Besides, what could he do or say against a strong man like the Yondaime Hokage?

"I have heard from your sister that you can't sleep because of Shukaku and that you _think _your mother is the one who incites you to kill."

Gaara was at first nonplussed, but then felt murderous. Did that mean the blasted bakemono inside of him had lied?!

Minato seeing as the poor boy felt murderous at the fact of being used, sighed.

"I can fix the seal in you to make it better in a way that would enable you to feel better. You could sleep at night."

Gaara thought about it for about two seconds before nodding in agreement to the procedure the Hokage was about to exercise on his seal.

:-:

Kurenai took Naruto to Tenten knowing the girl was the best example to follow. She may have been a tomboy as Naruto, but she _was _proud of being a girl and would get her charge to like herself as a girl as well. While they spoke to each other about things, she poofed herself into the outside of the Hokage's office. She awaited her turn.

When she managed to get in, she was faced by Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama standing next to each other.

"Hokage-sama… permission to speak." – she knew she was interrupting but knew that she had to be done.

"Yuuhi Kurenai, do you not see we're in session?" – said the elder woman who sat behind the great medic-nin Tsunade. Kurenai bristled inwardly, her distaste for the elder council was tremendous. If it hadn't been for them, her new charge wouldn't have ended up like this.

"Excuse me for interrupting, sir and madam; but I came to tell you about Uzumaki Naruto."

This took precedence above all, after all; Naruto _was_ the village's ultimate weapon. The older woman frowned whilst the man looked at her intently trying to discover if it were a ruse or something else.

"Proceed." – he said.

"Uzumaki Naruto came to me this morning saying she wished me to train her. She seemed distraught and claimed she didn't want to suffer a defeat against Suna's jinchuuriki once again."

There was silence. Then Tsunade-sama cleared her throat frowning.

"Did she say what kind of defeat she was talking about?" – Jiraiya-sama drawled suddenly looking much more serious than he was when she had first come in to the room.

"Yes. In fact, she showed it to me."

"What was it? Was it a wound? Because I ran a check-up on her and found nothing wrong." – Tsunade-sama said worriedly.

"It wasn't a wound. It was a hickey." – she stated and watched as the Hokage's eyes widened and then narrowed in thought. She frowned inwardly.

"A hickey you say?" – said the older woman called Koharu.

"Yes." – she answered promptly.

"I see. Perhaps… there has been some lacking in her teachings about how to deal with men at the Academy." – Hotaru said.

She watched as Tsunade-sama and Jiraiya-sama turned to look at the Hokage as one and narrow their eyes in a glare.

"I think it is a good idea you teach her what has been missing in that sense, Yuuhi-san. We give you full reign into teaching her for the next month." – Koharu said not diverting her gaze towards the Hokage.

Kurenai took that as a dismissal and bowed before leaving.

Jiraiya exclaimed: "Is there something you wish to tell us, Minato-kun?"

Tsunade snorted: "Of all the types of sabotages you could have done, this was not the thing you should have played with."

Minato didn't blush, but he did pout.

:-:

As the days progressed, Naruto was starting to see that there was nothing wrong in being a girl. She took to her duties as a chunnin like everything else she did and soon the thought of being split from her team didn't cross her mind. Until that is, she was presented by the Hokage himself, her first mission as the chief chunnin in taking four genins: Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Chouji for a reconnaissance mission out to Rice Country, where the village of Sound was rumored to be. She met with her team at the bridge and proceeded to let them know of the C-level mission.

Because she had not seen her teammates for at least three weeks after the failed invasion, she was surprised to see their mouths drop open at her new look. She was wearing her hair in a short ponytail, with light makeup on her eyes and her outfit wasn't the stupid uni-suit it had been before. Instead it was blue standard shinobi pants that fit her athletic figure and a white tank-top underneath her green chunnin vest.

"What?" – she asked.

"Naruto… you look different!" – was Sakura's awed exclamation.

Sasuke looked to be unable to form words.

"Ah… souka. Sorry, but I've been busy with dealing administrative jobs at the Hokage Tower that I'd forgotten all about it. I got promoted just like Shikamaru."

Yamanaka Ino – who stood at her right – giggled at the sight of an enamoured Uchiha. Chouji – who stood at her left – kept on munching the vegetable chips his mother had made for him under the medical recipe of Naruto's handwriting.

They left the village around noon.

:-:

Sabaku no Gaara stood next to his siblings feeling slightly better than before. He apologized to his siblings for giving them such a hard time, to their surprise; but his straying eyes left no doubt as to the reason why he couldn't concentrate on leaving Konoha to go home. Shikamaru took notice of this immediately and took a memo to get answers later on.

"So… we'll be seeing each other soon enough?" – Temari said to the lazy ass genius in front of her.

"Troublesome. It depends on what happens next. Ja ne." – and with that he turned around and left, with the doors closing after him.

Temari sighed inwardly and started to follow her brothers back to where they were heading… back to their village.

:-:

Three weeks later

:-:

Kakashi returned three weeks later informing the Hokage of a disappearance. An Cloud nin that was very important seeing as that kunoichi was also a jinchuuriki. Neko no nibi, alias Yugito. It was his theory that perhaps the girl had disappeared from the hidden village because it was running away from someone.

Minato was about to comment, when Naruto irrupted into the room.

Carrying said missing-nin on her back.

:-:

"What on earth were you thinking!?" – Tsunade shouted at her number one apprentice in the labs that stood underground the ANBU's special tower.

"Well… I wasn't thinking really! I just saw these two men with black and red clouds coat and decided to help out! What do you think I could have been thinking?!" – Naruto shouted sarcastically back at her.

Shizune and Minato who stood side by side whereas Kakashi stood by the door of the single medical room shook their heads in response. Shizune had never seen her mistress so angry. On par with Tsunade-sama's temper, Naruto was hardly being nice; in Kakashi's opinion.

"Maa maa, please tell us how this came to be." – Minato said in a soft tone of voice wondering what this was about and also trying to stop a fight between the two kunoichi in front of him.

Kakashi just blinked and wondered if his sensei knew he should never step in between a kunoichi cat-fight.

Naruto visibly stiffened for a second before exhaling once. Tsunade closed her hands in fists attempting to control her temper and not hit the blond girl in front of her.

"We were coming back from our mission to Otogakure, when Ino thought she heard fighting going on. We were at the other side of a hill and without my prompting Sasuke ran over the top to find out what was going on. Here he saw a numerous amount of corpses littering the way. I went over to look and I saw these two weird looking men fighting a large purple cat that had two gigantic tails. Before I could summon my team and let them be, Sakura screamed and we were found out."

Kakashi rubbed his face and promised to himself to put Sakura through a gruesome training routine once again to get her head straight about how people went about on a mission and encountered unfavorable situations.

"And then? You tried to hightail it out of there, right? Tell me that's what you did, Naruto!" – Tsunade stated, her voice rising as she finished her sentence were she was all but shouting.

"Yes! But Ino and Sakura – the fools – kept arguing we should try and help the girl, whilst I told them to run and obey! Except Sasuke had decided to be a hero by now and enlisted Chouji's help in getting the girl out of harm's way!"

"Naruto… calm down ok. I'll make sure Sasuke and Sakura get the point. And I'll tell Asuma about Chouji and Ino, ok." – Kakashi stated as he watched disturbed at how much Naruto seemed to be projecting youki at them.

But Tsunade was livid and would not be deterred. "Perhaps it was too soon for you to become chunnin. Perhaps you need more training before you can become a chunnin." – she said smirking evilly at her charge. Shizune knew she was just being vindictive to cover the fact that she had been worried for her charge.

"So take the fucking vest back! I was just doing my fucking job! When the tall guy looked at me and said that he recognized me as a jinchuuriki and was about to kill Sasuke, all I did was my job!" – Naruto screamed at her and released a potent shout as she ripped the chunnin vest off and poofed out of the room in a resemblance of Hiraishin no jutsu. Minato narrowed his eyes at the display and looked furious at Tsunade.

"You pushed her, damn it. Find out what you can about the girl on the bed. I'll go see Naruto."

Tsunade slumped over the chair behind her and put her hands in her eyes. Kakashi felt decidedly uncomfortable at witnessing the great medic-nin cry.

"Shh. Everything will be alright now, Tsunade-sama. Please don't cry. Naruto didn't mean to swear at you, ok?" – those were the last two words he heard before he also stepped outside the room in search of his subordinates.

:-:

Sasuke and Sakura were being bandaged at the hospital. Sakura and Ino sustained light wounds and Chouji was just out of chakra resting in a separate cot on the same hospital room they were at.

Sasuke was nursing his hurt male pride at being unable to take the fact that he had been beaten and had to be rescued by Naruto. How was he to get her to notice him if he had to be defended and rescued by her every single time they went on a mission?!

"Yare yare. I suppose this is also my fault for not telling you of Naruto's promotion." – said a voice from the doorway and Sasuke flinched when he caught sight of his sensei looking serious despite his flippant tone of voice.

"Sensei! Is the girl okay?" – he heard Sakura ask.

"The girl is fine. You guys however are not. I thought that this was explained at the academy lessons. A chunnin is always superior to a genin. When Naruto took you guys for a mission, she wasn't your equal; she was your superior. And you had to obey her orders as you did mine. What part of that didn't you get when I talked to you on the genin test?" – he said all the while looking from the corner of his eye at how the Yamanaka girl folded in into herself.

"You said shinobi who leave their teammates behind are worse than trash." – Sasuke said pouting a little bit.

"I said shinobi who don't obey orders are trash, but those who leave their comrades behind are worse than trash. Now where on the mission does it coordinate with what I've just told you, Sasuke? That girl wasn't your teammate. She wasn't even a comrade! A shinobi isn't a prince charming sent out to save the world! For this insubordination, you both are going to be doing D-rank missions for three months and training with me every afternoon from this day forward."

Sakura groaned, Sasuke wilted into himself and looked to be about to cry.

This scene was what greeted Asuma when he came into the room to look at his genin. He looked stern and wasn't smoking. Ino took this to mean they were also going to be punished as well.

:-:

Shikamaru wasn't the chivalrous type. But he knew Naruto enough to know this required him to lend his shoulder so she'd cry on. Even if he knew with certainty she wasn't going to cry about it. She wasn't like Ino. Hell, even if she looked more feminine now than what she wore before; he'd say he'd never see her looking like any of the other girls he knew. So he just lend her his arm even if she wasn't going to cry on it.

Naruto, for her part; only knew that depending on Shikamaru wasn't as bad as she'd thought it'd be. She didn't feel like crying, god knows she had done that once in her lifetime a long time ago and she knew it didn't help much to her situation. But… either way… the soothing rhythm of Shikamaru's beating heart lulled her into false sleep and she felt herself fall.

:-:

_Inside her mind._

:-:

Naruto needed not to talk with the beast inside her often. This was another reason she didn't like men. In her younger years after the incident that still gave her nightmares, she had encountered the beast in his humanoid form. He had stooped to her level in a dream and offered her a way out. Out of the tremendous loneliness she felt due to the absence of her only blood relation… her father. He was always too busy for her. Sometime she felt like that man had only given her mother her seed and then waited for the results. Her ero-sensei Jiraiya whom she thought of as a grandfather and her tough-nut Tsunade whom she thought of as a grandmother were a great help to her, as was Kakashi, Itachi and all those others that helped her become stronger. But she still couldn't get over the loss of her father as much as it pained her to say it out loud even in her own mind. Which was why she didn't like men.

Electra's complex at best. The demon had said to her she suffered because her father – the idiot that he were – had put him inside of his only daughter, his only child and stopped caring about her. Now standing in the green pastures that was her mind, the tranquility returned to her and she calmed.

_**Do you fear, little one?**_

_Iie. I only fear death._

_**You're not good at lying girl. You fear men because of what you saw when you were five. You weren't raped, but you could have. **_

_Men are useless pieces of shit._

_**Maybe we are useless. But that is why women were created, you know.**_

She was briefly reminded of the redheaded genin and scowled.

**The demon's red eyes crinkled amused and said…**

_**Even that 'useless' boy. I daresay my dear lady, you've met your match.**_

_Urasai! That's not why I'm here, damn it._

**Kyuubi's eyes narrowed as he remembered the men with the black coats with red clouds on them.**

_**Akatsuki!**_

_Akatsuki? Who are they? They looked at me and I felt small, Kyuubi-san._

_**Make me a body, kit and I'll find out.**_

_Later, Kyuubi-san. I need sleep now._

_**Sleep kit, I'll make sure no one harms you.**_

:-:

Naruto awoke feeling rested and murmured her thanks to Shikamaru who just grunted and continued to look at the sky, which was now black and filled with stars. She laid back down next to him and stared at the stars.

_Isn't as easy as you'd like to think._


	11. Chapter 11

Konoha's Innocent Vixen

By: Kibou32

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Summary: Story of a female Naruto who doesn't want to be Hokage. She's accepted – somewhat – by the villagers for being the Kyuubi's vessel, her father Namikaze Minato – the Yondaime Hokage is still alive after the sealing happened and is dead set against the thought his daughter would become a kunoichi despite the fact that both of the legendary sannin: Tsunade and Jiraiya, are teaching the kid everything they know in hopes of instructing a soon to be powerful shinobi weapon. Watch as Naruto deals with a negative out look from shinobi all around her – including her father's reluctance to seeing her as anything else than a ninja – to the pressure from those she's captured the hearts of to be the Godaime Hokage when all she ever wanted was just to be a regular shinobi with nothing else of importance besides the bijuu residing inside of her.

Pairings: Gaara + Naruto.

Warnings: there may be debauchery, heterosexual sex, etc.

Author's Little Note: Thank you Agni for supporting Konoha's Innocent Vixen! If you would drop a line for me, I'd be very much obliged. Here's the next installment. Some Gaara and Naruto action. However, Gaara is still going to be the arrogant and insufferable man that's still going to make Naruto bristle and fume about. Also… who should be Gaara's rival for Naruto's affections? Stay tune for more in the next installment. Those two lyrics are in reference to Mika's Relax (Take it Easy).

:-:

_Are you scared?_

:-:

Naruto woke up in the middle of the night feeling lost and small. This hadn't happened in a while. She wondered why that were to be and looked to her window to find an ANBU crouching on the sill wearing what looked to be a neko mask. His hair – from what she could see even with the lights off – was brown and long, and he was bulkier but not overtly so. She could guess that due to his bone structure, he was slightly taller than what he appeared to be.

"Namikaze." – he said in a hiss.

"Yea?" – she said in a breathy whisper and knew why her heart fluttered in her ribcage. She was scared.

He jumped down from the windowsill and put down on a chair next to her clothes bureau, a pink teddy bear the size of at least two of her bigger summons – no more than 2 ft tall each).

"For you." – he said in a hiss. Naruto acknowledge that his voice was of someone she knew and therefore he was trying to delude her, but she didn't call out his name because it wasn't fair to him.

And then he was gone with the wind and she laid back down, her heart thundering a mile a minute in her ribcage. Only then, was she able to go back to sleep.

:-:

She went dutifully back to work at the hospital expecting to be handed a million of small nurses activities, to find her baachan looking back at her with a sorrowful expression in her eyes. Her mouth was set into a frown. In her arms was a chunnin vest, it might've been the one she had had before her father gave her a new one; but she didn't care what he might've said about trying to control her temper. Lots of things were changing around her and she was still trying to work them out in her head.

"You're late." – she said.

And just like that the fight between them was over.

:-:

Three weeks after that, came the news that the Suna shinobi had built a shinobi academy. Shikamaru read the letter to his friends, all the while wishing that the Suna girl, Temari; hadn't thought to write to him at all. Naruto looked at him and smiled knowingly for the first time. He blushed and looked away muttering 'Troublesome' under his breath.

Sakura came in just when she was about to return to the hospital with Sasuke in tow. They looked grimy and sweaty and Naruto didn't feel like hearing them whine about how their sensei was training them to the bone. She just saluted to Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji before poofing out of the way. Sasuke sat at the ramen bar's stool and sighed knowing that they weren't likely to be able to talk to their ex-teammate anytime soon. Sakura just hung her head and wanted to weep. Ino patted her back comfortingly and sighed as well.

:-:

A week or so later, a petition for help came from Suna. Minato didn't want to send Naruto over for their help, but knew he had no choice as Shikamaru was away with three others on some other mission.

"Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Neji, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino. You've been called for a B-level mission."

:-:

It rankled Kiba to take orders from a girl. He didn't take it lightly that this mission was to help the allies that threaten to invade them not even four months ago. But then, enemies today; allies tomorrow. That was the saying that ninja went by when things turned 180° around them.

Shino ran quietly ahead of him thinking that Naruto had changed a lot from her academy days. She used to be the dead last, but now she was a chunnin that had beaten a jinchuuriki into the ground. She had confronted – from what he heard from Akimichi Chouji recounting that tale – two S-class missing-nin and gotten out of there alive. He wondered if his father would want him to pursue her in their later teenager years.

Hyuuga Neji had moderated after the sound beating he received from Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto. He understood now what it meant to be free and that fate didn't hold out a candle to your own way of making things. And he owed it all to the girl running ahead of him. However, he would be a bigger idiot than Uchiha Sasuke, if he suddenly started mooning over a girl who didn't seem to want to have any sort of romantic interest in boys in general.

Naruto frowned as she made her way through the woods. She didn't want to do this. But a mission was a mission and if your Hokage demands you for a mission, you have no choice but to obey. Now as she stood there looking at how the red haired genin fought his bijuu for control, she imagined that this wasn't the seal she had in mind when she thought her father had fixed it. But she figured that layering on a seal that could snap anytime due to prolonged exposure to fits of uncontrolled rage to kill with another of a higher caliber, could make it impossible for the red haired genin to control… and she nodded to herself at the thought.

Hyuuga Neji was the one who came to her when Gaara had finally defeated their opponent. A girl of maybe 11 years of age came to her thanking her profusely for coming to their aid. She wanted to snort at her and tell her that she was only doing this because she was ordered to by her Hokage, but she didn't. The devotion that showed in her eyes when she stared at her and the other jinchuuriki made her invariably annoyed and only nodded to accept her thanks.

In the end, she was forced to come in contact with the other due to him suffering chakra exhaustion. She was the only medic for miles around and she had a duty and an obligation to do it even if she didn't want to.

"Namikaze Naruto. Thank you." – he said as he bowed his head towards her when she finally finished replenishing his chakra enough that he wasn't on the verge of falling over.

She frowned, snorted at him and said: "No need to thank me, we are allies after all." – and then she turned away to bark orders at her subordinates falling in a further terrible mood when Kiba decided to be his idiotic self and begin to badmouth her in the face of their Suna allies.

It was a shock however, when she didn't get to deck him due to the intervention of Gaara himself.

"Why did you do that!? Do you want a fight?!" – Kiba shouted back at the boy with red hair suddenly wanting to kill him for hitting him.

"Kiba." – Shino decided at that moment to intervene.

"What?! He started it!" – he said with a scowl but winced when Neji cuffed him.

"Naruto-kun is your superior. You don't badmouth your superior in front of other shinobi. Especially if they aren't of the same village." – he explained with a roll of his eyes and Kiba shut up quickly after that.

"Namikaze Naruto is a great leader." – Gaara said simply looking to the side to watch the sunset.

Naruto felt even more of a terrible mood and swore inwardly. She turned to the redhead's siblings and bowed.

"If that is all, we'll be taking our leave." – she said.

Temari just nodded. She was willing to bet that the other girl wanted to be gone ASAP. It was not to be however when Gaara turned back to the girl again and said loudly for everyone to hear.

"You'll be mine soon enough, Namikaze." – and watched with a sigh how the girl bristled visibly before stiffly directing her subordinates to walk away from the scene.

:-:

Kurenai was willing to bet that the girl was upset more because the boy had said something along the lines of 'You belong to me'. No woman – younger or otherwise – wanted to hear she was thought of being a possession. So she could sympathize with her mood. But even this was ridiculous.

She was just about to talk to her about it – watching her punch a log at Gai's usual training grounds with a fervor she found herself feeling queasy just by the sight of it – when a white haired individual strolled in to the scene.

"Naruto." – the older male said.

"Ero-sennin?" – she asked but still didn't turn around from fighting off her frustrations on the log.

"Look at me. When your sensei talks to you, you look at him!" – he ordered and immediately Kurenai watched sadly as Naruto stood up straight and stiffened at the order.

She was sure Naruto was the wonderful little soldier again and she sighed deciding she didn't want to be near to learn what kind of mission Konoha's weapon was about to perform.

"I'm leaving the village for a reconnection of my informative connections." – she heard as she was leaving.

"For how long, sensei?" – she heard the girl say in a monotone sort of voice.

"Three years." – he said.

"When do we leave?" – she asked and Jiraiya smiled for the first time in weeks.

"In 48 hundred hours." – he said quietly.

"I'll be ready by then."

"I'll wait for you on the village's gates at 9 hundred hours." – and then he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto slumped a little and looked at the training log post before resuming her one sided fight with the log.

:-:

Jiraiya told Minato they needed to rebuild their connections. Minato agreed they needed to. Minato did not agree to have his only daughter leaving with him when that organization was running about trailing after the jinchuuriki.

Tsunade flatly said no. Naruto still needed to complete her medical training. As she was now, she still had other things to learn. Jiraiya told her that if she wanted to, she could come along for a third part of their trip and teach her. Surely, she could leave Shizune in charge of the hospital. Right? Tsunade deflated and then marched out the door. The door slammed sharply after her.

Kakashi was sad to see his little student going away on a three year training trip. But knew he could say nothing if the higher echelons were okay with it. He only helped his sensei serve the sake on the dish and took his sensei home when the man was sloshed completely.

:-:

The ANBU from that other day came back. Only Naruto realized it wasn't from any ordinary division.

"ANBU-san, what do you need?"

"Danzo-sama wishes to see you." – he said simply.

"I see. I will go if you tell me where."

:-:

_In Suna…_

:-:

Temari looked at Gaara and sighed. Kankuro looked in on Gaara at the training grounds at two in the afternoon and sighed.

They came to look for him early morn to find him still fighting a blast of sand, using his skills to manipulate the wind.

Finally, at the third day of that shit, Temari decided to brave the sandstorm and put an end to the mooning over a girl who was three to four days away from where they were.

"Gaara!" – she shouted for the nth time and received no response.

She shouted until her vocal cords were almost torn from the excess of use. She stomped and she used her fan to check the land from above. She found nothing. Nightfall came and she was just about to head down back to the village when she was approached from behind. Her little brother looked torn asunder. His red hair was wild, he bore no tattoo – that told her he didn't have that sand armor around his body anymore – and he was almost completely nude but for a piece of pants that looked almost painted on his buttocks. She concluded that whatever he was deliberating about was over and done with.

She turned to him and said: "Are you okay now?"

He didn't respond at first. But then he smiled and said…

"Un. I've decided to decline becoming a Kazekage."

Temari was sure she resembled a 'WTF' victim look.

:-:

Later, Temari decided to brave the idiotic behavior of her brother and go up to his room to talk.

"Gaara-kun?" – she asked quietly not wishing to disturb him if he weren't awake just that moment.

"Un." – he said looking on to the night above.

"About Namikaze-san… why on earth do you want her?!" – she said not trying to beat around the bush.

She watched as her brother looked to the side before deciding to say something…

"She is the first one not to be scared by who I am. She's a jinchuuriki just as I am and understands pain as I do not. We're the same and yet… we're different. Yashamaru said once that only a saint would love a demon… I don't think I know what love is… really. But I would like to find out with her… by… by my side."

Temari narrowed her eyes a little bit and then sighed closing her eyes as she did so.

"If you keep saying that she belongs to you like that, she's likely to shy away from you even more." – she said in the end.

Gaara looked at her with confusion lingering in the depths of his own green eyes.

"Why do you say that? Kankurou's books say that to get a girl you have to…" – he stopped there when he found his sister's brown eyes looking murderous.

"KANKUROU?!"

Gaara was left alone with his thoughts once again.

:-:

Three days later, word came to Suna – by the unlikely source of a Konoha shinobi Gaara's sister referred to as a lazy-ass – that Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto had left Konoha for a long three year training trip with Jiraiya of the Sannin. Gaara was unsettled for a long while. He practiced controlling his bijuu and creating his own techniques… the new seal that the Yondaime Hokage had left in him was much better than the one he had before. This one allowed him to sleep at least four hours a night whereas before he slept none. He was still unreasonably white, but his pale pallor was not due to the tanuki in him but something else.

Hormones.

Even a jinchuuriki would fall prey to those. Only no jinchuuriki from the sand bijuu called Shukaku had managed to last thirteen years and most of all… previous holders of the bijuu were older than thirteen when they tried the human sacrifice.

The only one he allowed near him was Baki. His sensei was quiet and calm. He was a bit upset that Gaara had decided not to take post as Kazekage… but he understood the line of fate when he saw it. And Gaara was destined to fall in love with the blond haired kunoichi from Konoha. Problem was… Gaara had no idea how to treat a girl for real. The only other girl who had dared to come close to him had been his only student Matsuri. But the girl was a girl and not a hardened shinobi like the blond girl from Konoha and Temari was his sibling. So Baki was relegated the task to approach this new set of events with the redheaded boy alone.

One night, Gaara awoke after only two hours of sleep. They weren't in Suna, but in a fisherman village on the outskirts of Wind Country. Baki and Gaara made a good team together – without Matsuri, of course – and they were being paired up together due to Kankurou's spending time with his students at the academy and Temari… Temari was the next strongest among shinobi there. She had been taken under charge of a three year training to become Suna's Kazekage. She was obviously not pleased.

He stood up and wondered what had woken him up. They were staying at the local inn, Baki was taking time for researching purposes. Gaara knew this was half the truth… the man was a bachelor and sometimes needed time to go and search some sort of entertaining.

He looked out to the window to find a kitsune. This one was yellow one with black spots around its body. It had a Konoha vest around its tiny body. Gaara knew no one else in Konoha that used kitsune as summons… unless it were… he was instantly wide awake and ready for anything.

He went to the outskirts of the town and watched at the beauty in the sea.

Namikaze Naruto was there. At least if his eyes weren't deceiving him, she was there. She was wearing a white soaked to the bone tanktop and blue cutoffs. He watched from behind a tree as she complained to the empty sandy bay that handling water was tough.

"… stupid ero-sensei!" – she seemed to be saying.

Gaara patiently – and quietly – knelt on his knees and watched the girl. The kitsune next to him sauntered away and came back with someone else.

Gaara didn't pay attention at first until there was a hiss by his feet and he looked down. He didn't expect to be looking at a tanuki. An honest to god tanuki.

The kitsune having witnessed that the message was delivered, poofed out of existence.

Gaara had a contest of wills with the short but stout animal. It appeared that whatever the animal had been looking for, he had found. He uncovered a scroll. Gaara wasn't stupid. He knew what it was about. And he smiled softly.

In the morning when he stood and looked up he was surprised to find himself face to face with a topless Namikaze Naruto. Her blue eyes blinked once – as did his – and then she shrieked.

:-:

Naruto hadn't been expecting her perverted sensei to dump her at a small fisherman village on the outskirts of Wind Country saying that by training by the sea, she'd be able to find that inner peace that she sorely lacked due to the last turn of events. He said he didn't want her with him when he was traipsing around Rain Country. According to his sources, Rain was where the Akatsuki had their headquarters. She sighed and realized that he was right. What he didn't know though… it was that she had activated her one special jutsu – a blood seal – and let the Kyuubi out of the seal.

The blood seal consisted in creating a kage bunshin but giving it enough of a real body… by using her own blood to create cells… it was something that only a true medic nin would be able to do… if they had the right amount of chakra. Since she had trained from an early age to control her stamina in par with her abnormal chakra reserves.

But using this technique was sort of hard because to create an exact copy out of a kage bunshin took days… since her sensei had dumped her by the bay for a week now, she had released Kyuubi once the kage bunshin copy was made real. Kyuubi would be gone for two weeks. Given that her sensei would likely be gone for a month… no one would be the wiser that she wasn't carrying the bijuu inside of her. Unfortunately, the release of Kyuubi from the seal – even for two weeks – disabled her to use her otherworldly senses. Which was why she hadn't been able to notice Gaara.

She covered her newly blossoming chest and shrieked.

"PERVERT!"

Gaara evaded a punch from a newly poofed into existence Kage bunshin that decided to trash him. He didn't want to fight a clone and since receiving a good lecture about how to treat a girl from his sister not even two months prior… he found he really didn't want to fight the real Namikaze Naruto. But… the sight of her bared to the elements blossoming breasts… called the inner male inside of him… he blushed deeply.

Once she was dressed accordingly, he planted himself in a defense posture and apologized.

"Gomen nasai."

Naruto huffed and crossed her arms below her breasts and said…

"I don't like you Sabaku no Gaara. Leave the bay and I won't kill you."

He didn't respond at first which granted Naruto some respite. When her blue eyes sought his, Gaara found the girl was trying to hold back a smile. He smiled shyly back at her and was shocked at how good she looked smiling. He wanted to see her – then and forever more – forever smiling.

"What are you doing here?" – what Gaara heard was: '_Why are you so far away from Suna?_'

"A mission." – he replied shortly. What Naruto deciphered from that was: '_A Reconnaissance mission with my sensei._'

"I see. How long are you staying here?" – she asked.

"Two more days." – was his short answer.

:-:

When Baki found him that afternoon at the inn eating ramen – what the fuck?! Why ramen?! He doesn't like noodles!! – he was surprised to see Gaara in a good mood playing with a raccoon. Then it hit him. A tanuki?!

:-:

The next day, Baki resolved to follow Gaara on his daily rounds around the small village. Only to find himself going to the bay. There he found the answer of Gaara's good mood: Namikaze Naruto training by the sea with an incomplete technique… the Yondaime's own Rasengan.

He spied on the two teenagers for awhile. He was happy – as happy as a shinobi of his caliber could be – that the lonely jinchuuriki from Suna was behaving much like any other teenager. Gaara was trying to court Naruto into going on a date with him the next day. He left the boy to his own devices.

:-:

Naruto couldn't believe she was having so much fun training with the annoying Gaara. Sometimes she couldn't help herself and had to hold back the mischievous behavior that the signing of the kitsune contract left in her. At night however, when he said he had to go back into town, she relented and granted him the right to take her out for breakfast the next morning.

:-:

Eating something that she knew the boy had cooked was nerve-wracking. She didn't trust easily. She knew it was the same for him. But still, the breakfast was good enough and she decided to give the boy a chance. He wasn't so bad after all… just misunderstood.

All fun had to come to an end though, with the arrival of Tsunade. She sighed as she bid him goodbye with a kiss on his left cheek that she didn't think twice about doing.

:-:

Gaara had a dreamy expression on his face when they made their way back to Suna. Baki thought that perhaps it wasn't such a bad idea to let the kid be his own self.

:-:

Training with Tsunade-no-baachan was exhausting in and of itself. But she learnt much more with her there than alone.

"So…" – Tsunade said whilst watching her charge run through the same incomplete technique of her father's… the rasengan.

"Hm." – she said absentmindedly.

"The Suna Jinchuuriki… you're not afraid of him anymore, are you?"

"Ah. Wait. What?" – she said once she realized what the question was and how she had responded. She blushed hotly once she realized she wasn't lying when she said she wasn't afraid of the redhead anymore.

Tsunade laughed heartily. "Oh Naruto. It's okay for you to be friends with him. If he learns how to be more human, you've got yourself a nice catch."

"IIE. YADDA. EWW." – she said in rapid succession and ran away from the site.

:-:

Shortly a week after Gaara woke up in the middle of the night, panting. He had dreamt of a man coming into Naruto's room back in Konoha. How he had dreamt of that, he didn't know. But the image burnt inside his mind was of a pink teddy bear. Whoever that Neko ANBU were to be, Gaara – narrowed his eyes a bit – would kill him for daring to scare Namikaze Naruto.

A few thousands of miles away, exactly where Gaara had seen Naruto a week ago; Naruto woke up gasping for breath. Kyuubi sat in front of her, roguish smile gone from his solemn ethereal face… a mirror of her own.

"Akatsuki. Is. A. Bigger. Problem. Than. We. Thought." – was what he said before he returned to the cage behind the seal.

_Are we playing with fire?_


	12. Chapter 12

Konoha's Innocent Vixen

By: Kibou32

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Summary: Story of a female Naruto who doesn't want to be Hokage. She's accepted – somewhat – by the villagers for being the Kyuubi's vessel, her father Namikaze Minato – the Yondaime Hokage is still alive after the sealing happened and is dead set against the thought his daughter would become a kunoichi despite the fact that both of the legendary sannin: Tsunade and Jiraiya, are teaching the kid everything they know in hopes of instructing a soon to be powerful shinobi weapon. Watch as Naruto deals with a negative outlook from shinobi all around her – including her father's reluctance to seeing her as anything else than a ninja – to the pressure from those she's captured the hearts of to be the Godaime Hokage when all she ever wanted was just to be a regular shinobi with nothing else of importance besides the bijuu residing inside of her.

Pairings: Gaara + Naruto.

Warnings: there may be debauchery, heterosexual sex, etc.

A/N: Previously known as "A Question of Time". I'm sorry... but the first review was discouraging enough... and I got bored with the outline, so I was playing with a different version of it and ended up with this.

:-:

_If I never see your face again_

:-:

_Three years later._

Tsunade stood waiting at the gates with a tender smile on her face. She was sure today was the day for the return of her favorite student. Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto was bound to get to Konoha victorious. She had received a letter from her two weeks ago saying that the pervert of her teammate had decided she was good enough and deemed her ready to go back to Konoha. She smirked evilly at the thought of bringing the news to Naruto's father that his precious daughter had ascended to jounin status during the jounin exams in Earth Country.

She turned her head to look for Naruto's face in the long road to find a cloud of dust coming from one side. She frowned thinking something or someone else was coming only to gasp in surprise to see a multitude of love-struck civilian boys running towards the gates of Konoha.

"Tsunade-no-baachan! Quick! Hide me!" – a voice to her left stuttered and Tsunade was surprised to see a girl- no a woman more like it, if it weren't for her blue eyes and her face structure… she resembled her to the tee when Tsunade was a young medic-nin.

Naruto was wearing a formal winter kimono – even though it was only spring, the mornings in Konoha tended to be a little chilly – and her long hair was in two pigtails to the side. Her bosom was almost at par with her own, her waist and the rest of her body in sensual curves. Tsunade knew then and there why the girl had been running away from the throng of males coming forth.

"Naruto!" – she heard the voice of Jiraiya come from the throng of males still running towards them and managed to see that the pervert was trying – futilely – to make his way out of the mob.

"Quick! Baachan… don't let them get me!" – the young woman next to her cried in earnest.

Tsunade sighed and went to the motion of the 'lost in the woods' genjutsu to lead the mob astray. It worked, the men began to get disoriented and spread from the mob-like shape and began walking away from the main road.

Jiraiya looked to be confused for a second before shaking his head and then grinning whilst making his way towards them.

"Yo!" – he said grinning widely.

Tsunade huffed and then said: "What on earth was that?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly and said…

"Ero-sensei's fault. We had to stop on a village for something to eat and then suddenly all these men were trying to tend to me... I didn't even say anything. If he had just let us move through that village without calling on attention to us, none of this would have happened."

"WHY YOU?!" – Jiraiya tried to hit his young charge with no avail.

Tsunade smiled for the first time.

"Charming men now… you've grown Naruto." – she was happy that her ball of sunshine had come back.

"Let's go meet your father now… Naruto." – Jiraiya said sounding a bit miffed that he had been set aside by his teammate.

:-:

When they were making their way to the Hokage Tower… Naruto was in awe of how much had changed in the meantime. And then she noticed something else. There were Hyuuga men and women walking around wearing a uniform of sorts.

"What are those?" – she asked the Legendary medic ninja.

"Oh? Those you mean." – signaling to the men wearing a smart collared gray jacket with cuffs and a row of buttons with the insignia of the police in their left arms. Most of them did not carry the hitae-ate of being ninja but all of them were wearing long pants that seemed to be not the standard shinobi pants, but something sturdier but malleable.

"Yeah." – she said wondering about the uniform.

"Your friend Hinata… came up with this idea shortly after you left. She said Konoha needed a police station not only for the shinobi residents but also for those that didn't have a clan or were part of the shinobi ranks. She presented a plan for the Hyuuga household to work and the Yondaime approved it. It's been going on for two years now. It works quite well. And the best thing is… it has a recruitment service even for those girls that entered the academy but didn't like to become kunoichi in the end!"

"Sou ka! That's great of Hinata-chan! She's the best."

"Yeah."

"What did Sasuke-san think of this?" – she asked knowing Uchiha Itachi was somewhere else outside the village doing undercover work.

Tsunade snorted for a second and then said: "Your ex-teammate didn't seem to care much. But in the end it seemed he worked around it and sold the police station and its surrounding grounds to Hinata for a small fortune."

"Ah. That's good. It means Sasuke is ready to leave everything to the past."

Tsunade glanced over to the young woman walking primly beside her and smiled a true smile.

"Your other teammate… Sakura." – she said.

"What about her?"

"Well… she made chunnin with Sasuke just last year. And she asked me to train her to become a medic ninja." – she said.

Naruto stopped altogether at that. Tsunade was worried the young woman might think she'd be replacing her, but she was worrying for naught when Naruto turned around with the widest smile she had seen from her and said…

"I'm glad Sakura finally decided to get her head out of her proverbial prissy butt. Just don't make it easy for her, ok?" – and then she continued to walk, her gait proud and measured. Happy as well.

Tsunade was glad of the change in her gaki. She grinned at Jiraiya and said: "I don't know what you did pervert-san, but whatever it is that you did… thank you for bringing my gaki back."

Jiraiya grinned back as well: "My pleasure."

:-:

Since Namikaze Minato had been expecting the dignitary from Suna – Sabaku no Gaara – he was a bit shocked to see his daughter walk into his office wearing a traditional winter kimono. She looked so much like a lighter version of his dead wife that it took his breath away. What he didn't like when he recovered some of his sanity was the way the hidden ANBU were reacting to her glorious handsome looks.

"Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto reporting to duty, sir!" – She said calmly and Minato frowned deciding he didn't really want Naruto in the line of fire.

Unfortunately, his decision was taken cleanly out of his grasp when Jiraiya gave him a scroll with a seal that spelled out from Earth country's Kage. He groaned inwardly when faced with the idea that his daughter had made the jounin rank just six months ago and that she was highly commended by Earth country's Kage. That was a slap in the face if there was anything to come by.

Minato turned to look at her daughter and sighed knowing he was in no way allowed to keep her at the academy anymore. His daughter had grown up and now he had no way of stopping her from being a true warrior.

"Jounin Namikaze, you are to report to training grounds 5 – the waterfall grounds – in full shinobi gear in 48 hundred hours. Dismissed." – He said in the end.

"Yes, sir!" – she said as she turned around to leave but before she left, she turned around and smiled happily at him, her eyes twinkled mischievously as she turned around and blew him a kiss.

He knew his cheeks were red. He knew the two sannin thought that it was kind of cute that his daughter had deemed to be playful with him, but he didn't like it because it was an obvious disrespect for him. Oh how he wished he could have control over that girl!

"Minato… don't get angry with her. She's behaving more like a human being than a weapon. Think of this as a good thing instead of a bad thing." – Tsunade said in a placating voice.

Minato just sighed again and decided to let things be. Inside his own thoughts was the nagging feeling that things were about to be harder.

:-:

The first person Naruto saw after she had changed into comfortable and not so formal clothes was Uchiha Sasuke. He looked to be in a state of shock. She didn't think her coming back to the village was so much of a shock, but it seemed to be.

"Sasuke-san? Is everything alright?" – She heard from behind him and was surprised to see Hyuuga Hinata walking behind him.

Naruto smiled softly and said: "Oh wow! That's great progress Hinata-chan!"

Hinata swiftly turned her eyes and gasped. And then she jumped Naruto to the incredulity of Sasuke who felt weird and uncomfortable at the sight. Even more so when Hinata stood up from having glomped Naruto and touched Naruto's boobs in broad daylight.

"Hinata-chan!" – said a scandalized voice from behind him and he groaned when he saw it was his teammate Sakura.

"Gomen ne, Sakura-chan! It's just that seeing Naruto… it always makes me want to glomp her." – Hinata said with a twinkle in her eyes.

Sasuke flushed inwardly trying very hard not to name that twinkle in her eyes.

Naruto just smiled and hugged Hinata from behind and said…

"We used to bathe together and touch each other, right Hinata-chan?" – She said as she smiled mischievously from behind her.

Sakura flushed a pretty red and Sasuke decided he was in hell.

:-:

Haruno Sakura always used to carry a torch for her precious Sasuke-kun. Out went her other teammate and left the village for three years and she went to Kurenai to get genjutsu training. Now she was very good at what she had learnt but she had also gotten an apprenticeship with Tsunade of the Sannin. She at first had thought to do it to gain the young man's attention, but after awhile decided it was pointless… Uchiha Sasuke was thoroughly enamored with Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto.

Hyuuga Neji – who also had a crush in Naruto before the girl left – went back to his normal – well… as normal as a Hyuuga from the Branch family can be – life and decided to try his charms in her best friend Ino. They got along pretty well and Sakura was happy things had worked out for them. Except… except here she was a very beautiful girl of sixteen springs and not one boy in sight – aside from Lee, who she had gained respect in, but did not like as a prospect for a boyfriend, no matter how much she thought of it.

And then… she got a weird dream one night about a girl half-nude. She blamed it on her sensei Kakashi and his love for the Icha Icha books. So now she was dating Hinata and to Kiba's dismay, the Hyuuga clan's head was in total agreement of their relationship. Sakura just about died when she caught the knowing glance from recently arrived Naruto.

Naruto – who hadn't been able to write due to her sensei's duly noted paranoia – was stuck in what had been going on, but was nonetheless happy that her friend Hinata was okay and in a happy relationship with the pinkette.

"CONGRATULATIONS!" – Naruto exclaimed by clapping Sakura on the back.

Sakura blushed heavily and looked away from Sasuke, who in turn turned the other way to avoid staring at her. It was enough that he had caught his teammate in the throes of orgasm by the present Hyuuga's own chakra charged fingers on her wet pussy, but even worse that Hinata had looked at him straight in the eye as he tried not to wither away into dust and ask him if he wanted to join them. He had fled of course, and this was the reason most of the guys his age seemed to smirk at him when the issue in question was spoken.

He wasn't a coward; it was just that… it was just that seeing those two together had made him feel _really _uncomfortable. Kiba had laughed at him and said that he should have stayed to see what happened next. But all he could hear then and at that time the guys had heard of it by Hyuuga Hinata's own mouth was how his mother had told him that he should await for the person he cared for the most and _then _love her. The physical aspect of things… was something that he wasn't prepared to go for.

At least Hyuuga Neji wasn't so cool about him seeing that as the other guys had been. Later, he found that Neji had seen them together quite a few times, but that the onetime his cousin had invited him, he had also fled from the scene.

He in turn looked at Naruto and blushed. Here was the woman of his dreams. He could see that he was really crushing on her.

:-:

Naruto was laughing as she kept hearing what Hinata was telling her before two men joined their vicinity. One was Nara Shikamaru taller and broader than what she had hoped he'd be and the other a handsome redhead with dark circles under his eyes, compliments of Shukaku. Her breath just about stopped.

She liked him. Even after sending letters back and forth between their summons, they liked each other. She really really liked him. That was the only reason she smiled gently towards him. She admired his short red hair, his green eyes, his taller height and his lean muscles.

On the other side, he admired her in return. She was no longer petite. She was tall, not as tall as he was, but taller than most girls he had seen recently. Her sixteenth year old body was very alluring. He wanted her in his arms soon. And he knew he needed to talk to her now. In private and without people venturing too close to either of them.

They belonged.

:-:

In the commotion of Konohamaru et al coming over to meet Sasuke for some advice – they had gotten close as soon as Sasuke gave up the Uchiha Police compound to the Hyuuga and all that other stuff they'd learned together when Uchiha Sasuke decided to become an Academy Teacher – and Ino arriving with her own hubby, both jinchuuriki took the means to escape the troupe of people to talk in private. Something Sasuke hated when he finally realized what had happened. He wanted to go after them, but wasn't able to disengage Konohamaru and his genin friends so he was stuck.

He listened to Shikamaru complain that now he had to go and fetch the Suna ninja and redirect him towards the Hokage Tower. And then inspiration struck. He'd go and see them while helping Shikamaru out. Brilliant!

:-:

On a rooftop not too far away from Naruto's own home, Gaara sat side by side to Naruto staring out into the darkening sky. It seemed as if it were to rain soon. Neither of them minded.

"Akatsuki is dangerous." – Naruto said softly.

Gaara nodded knowing thus because he had met quite a few of them already. Thanks to the change her father had made on his seal, he had encountered the Akatsuki a couple of times. They were hunting jinchuuriki. They were hunting her. She had the nine-tails inside of her.

"I've met Sasori from Suna and Deidara. They were tough opponents. If it hadn't been for my summons' contract I wouldn't have been able to get away." – he said.

Naruto said: "I have met both Kisame – the blue shark – and Hidan – the Jashin worshipper. Kisame is a mean bastard with Samehada and Hidan is pretty downright dangerous with his scythe. I studied the seals my father changed in you. In less than two weeks, you'll have to meet Shukaku and win. Are you ready?"

Gaara looked pensive for a second and then said: "I'm ready." Inwardly he pondered before saying in his usual tone of voice: "When I win, will you let me take you out on a date?"

Naruto blushed red first. Gaara – at first – thought she was angry with and made sure his sand armor was thick enough to make sure he wouldn't get hurt when she hit him with her fists, but then it seemed that she was embarrassed. Even though they had written to each other, getting to know about themselves through letters upon letters of things between them, Gaara knew he'd never completely understand her.

"When you win, I will let you take me on how many dates you wish me to take you." – she said in the end leaving him astounded for at least one minute.

:-:

When he finally made it to the Hokage tower, escorted there by a Naruto that had changed into jounin attire rather than the winter kimono she had been carrying, he stopped before they made their way inside the tower.

"I have a feeling that you're being pursued by someone else. Is this true?"

Naruto looked at Gaara wondering what to say, in the end she decided to tell the truth.

"Yes. His name is Danzo. He's a warmonger from the age of the Third Hokage. He's been pursuing me since I made chunnin status. Why?"

"Did he send you a pink teddy-bear?"

Naruto looked at him with a blank face. But inwardly she wondered how he knew. She had not told this to either of her teachers. Nor had she said a thing to her ex-teammates.

"H-how did you know of it?! I've never told anyone of that." – she said aghast that he knew of it.

"Don't trust him. If that ninja comes to you again, I will search him out and slaughter him." – he said menacingly.

Naruto didn't gulp and she didn't turn white. What she did do was whisper: "Have you been dreaming of me? As I have been of you?"

Gaara turned to her blue eyes immediately, fascinated by the idea of her dreaming of him. It made his heart race. It thrilled him.

"Yes, mostly when you're in danger. Have any idea what does it mean?" – he asked.

She looked to the side where she was sure there were supposed to be two guards. She didn't see them. She narrowed her eyes and said…

"I may have an idea, but we shouldn't discuss this here. Perhaps, after your meeting with the Hokage, you can come looking for me?"

He agreed with a nod and entered the tower. Naruto nodded to the hidden guard and left, knowing she was being watched; but not by whom.

_I don't mind, because we've gone much further than I thought we'd get tonight  
_


End file.
